The first steel deck carriers in the US Navy were the Midway class, which just missed WW2. The change from wood to steel happened due to the experiences of Kamikaze attacks against British and American carriers. American carriers hit on the deck, were heavily damaged and unable to continue flight operations. They then had to return to a major port for repairs.
The British carriers had steel decks, this made for less room for aircraft and a hotter environment to work in, but when hit on the deck, they were able to resume flight operations after clearing the deck of debris.
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