How layered fleet defenses broke up kamikaze attacks

Did kamikaze attacks fail because the Japanese committed aircraft one at a time?

No; attacks could begin in mass, but fighters, heavy anti-aircraft fire, and 40 mm defenses progressively broke formations into the isolated aircraft seen reaching individual ships.

Layered defense starts with radar search and the dense combat air patrol of Hellcats, Corsairs, and Wildcats around the fast carriers. Surviving formations then met heavy five-inch fire that split flights further before 40 mm batteries engaged the remaining individual aircraft. What looked like piecemeal Japanese tactics at the ship was often evidence that the layered defensive system had already done its work.