They'd leave Rabaul at such a time that they could cruise at a more fuel efficient speed until they got to the edge of possible air attack from Guadalcanal, then they'd dash in at high speed. I'd think still below flank speed. Fuel economy vs speed would have some speed below flank where they'd save a lot of oil. Endurance at flank speed for a DD is literally just hours.
When I did my layers, I made them steam in the low 20s as far as Shortland, then a dash at around 30 knots (with some near zero speed waypoints at guadalcanal, then a dash out). I ran them using the mission editor "play" button, and messed with the speeds til they were out of air range by dawn.
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