I seem to recall from my readings that the Japanese formations usually had a spear head shape, with the DDs ahead and flanking left and right of the capital ships.
eg:
....dd.....................................dd
dd cv ca ca dd only 2 dds then ca cv ca
....dd.................................... dd
With active carriers the'yd have the dds as pickets to rescue any ditchers. Getting to and from the battle zone this seems to be reasonable.
The US navy was very keen on "line ahead" with dds in front and rear, for its non carrier task forces (bb,ca etc). It's a holdover from the old "form a battle line" mentality of the "big gun" school.
The big box of a dd screen, ca's (especially aaa ca's) in closer and then the carriers in the center was standard, with a dd or two close in for ditchers when launching / recovering aircraft.
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