Thanks for the info, skunk works. The things said about Macarthur is typical of him. He had an egotistical streak, which finally caught up with him in Korea. Despite his many character flaws, most Philippine history books still hold him in high regard. We live in a world with different views about historical people.

Mac wasnt the first general to ignore intelligence reports and proceed with a pet project of Biak. Monty had his during Operation Market-Garden.

You were right in mentioning a captain's capabilities and experience. I should have included that factor. I read an account of a night naval battle off Guadalcanal wherein the Japanese gave the US Navy a heavy beating despite the US having gunnery radar.
What happened was that radar was so new on board ships that the US commander at the site distrusted it and did not use it. Thus, the Japanese with their night naval battle experience won the encounter.

At Biak, the US Navy had ample experience already with radar. Now the question that comes up in my mind is this: what would the Japanese naval commander need to do in order to spoof the US Navy's radar advantage at night? I say night because I assume that the Japanese Navy would rather have their convoy arrive off the island at night instead of daylight to lessen their vulnerability to aerial bombers.