Jonathan Parshall:

Victor at the Battle of Savo Island, the worst defeat ever suffered by the United States Navy. With a 'pickup team' of mostly aging cruisers and a lone destroyer, Mikawa sortied down 'The Slot' shortly after the U.S. Marine Corps landed on Guadalcanal. Through a combination of determination, good luck, and lapses in command and control on the part of the Allied naval forces, Mikawa's force achieved total surprise, and quickly sank four Allied heavy cruisers while suffering only minor damage to his own vessels. Unfortunately, he then promptly withdrew from the scene of the fight before destroying the Allied transports anchored in the Sound, for which act he has been endlessly (and in my opinion, unjustly) pilloried by historians on both sides... (send me e-mail if you want to argue the point).

Links From Related Partner Sites
WW2DB biography of Gunichi Mikawa