I'm not sure an argument could be made one way or that other that one approach was more effective. Although I believe the final battle off Japan was won due to the high number of American ships disabled and knocked out of combat even though they weren't sunk outright. Perhaps one tactic lends itself more to one side than the other. We'll have to see. I did discover that we misplayed one rule, but did so consistently for both sides.
Carriers remain deadly until they go under.