Editing Flight deck (section)

===Armored===
{{Main|Armoured flight deck }}

When aircraft carriers supplanted battleships as the primary fleet capital ship, there were two schools of thought on the question of armor protection being included into the flight deck. The [[United States Navy]] (USN) initially favored unarmored flight decks because they maximized aircraft carrier hangar and flight deck size, which in turn maximized aircraft capacity in the hangar, and on the flight deck, in the form of a permanent "deck park" for a large proportion of the aircraft carried.<ref>{{cite book |title=American and British Aircraft Carrier Development, 1919-1941 |first1=Thomas C. |last1=Hone |first2=Norman |last2=Friedman |first3=Mark D. |last3=Mandeles|author1-link=Thomas C. Hone |author2-link=Norman Friedman |location=Annapolis, Maryland |publisher=Naval Institute Press |year=1999 |isbn=9781557503824 |page=125}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=USS ''Bennington'' |title=Action Report, Operations in Support Of The Occupation Of Okinawa Including Strike Against [[Kanoya Airfield]], Kyushu. 28 May to 10 June 1945 |page=18 |quote=On June 5, 1945, USS ''Bennington'' reported that her maximum hangar capacity was 51 aircraft, 15 SB2Cs and 36 F4Us, and that 52 were carried as a deck park. At that time she carried 15 TBMs, 15 SB2Cs and the rest were a mix of F6Fs and F4Us. She was prompted to utilize, and report on, her maximum hangar storage due to a Typhoon}}</ref> 

In 1936 the Royal Navy developed the armored flight deck aircraft carrier which also enclosed the hangar sides and ends with armor. The addition of armor to the flight deck offered aircraft below some protection against aerial bombs while the armored hangar sides and ends helped to minimize damage and casualties from explosions or fires within or outside the hangar.<ref>{{cite book |editor-last=Eadon |editor-first=Stuart |title=Kamikaze, The Story of the British Pacific Fleet |publisher=Worcester |year=1991 |isbn=1-872017-23-1 |pages=338–339 |quote=In nine [[kamikaze]] strikes "...The Fleet Air Arm suffered...44 personnel killed...By contrast {{USS|Bunker Hill|CV-17|2}} lost 387 dead in the Kamikaze attack on 11 May 1945."}}</ref> The addition of armor to the hangar forced a reduction in top-weight, so the hangar height was reduced, and this restricted the types of aircraft that these ships could carry, although the [[Royal Navy]]'s armored carriers did carry spare aircraft in the hangar overheads.<ref>{{citation |last=Roberts |first=John |title=British Warships of the Second World War |location=London, UK |publisher=Chatham Publications |year=2000 |page=62 |isbn=9781861761316}}</ref> 

The armor also reduced the length of the flight deck, reducing the maximum aircraft capacity of the armored flight deck aircraft carrier. Additionally, Royal Navy aircraft carriers did not use a permanent deck park until approximately 1943; before then the aircraft capacity of RN aircraft carriers was limited to their hangar capacity. 

The 23,000-ton British {{sclass|Illustrious|aircraft carrier|4}} had a hangar capacity for 36 [[Fairey Swordfish|Swordfish]]-sized aircraft and a single {{convert|458|x|62|x|16|ft|m|adj=on}} hangar, but carried up to 57<ref>{{citation |last=Brown |first=David |title=Warship Profile No. 11: HMS ''Illustrious'' Aircraft Carrier 1939–1956, Operational History |location=Windsor, Berkshire |publisher=Profile Publications |year=1971 |page=257 |quote=42 F4U Corsairs and 15 Fairey Barracudas}}</ref> aircraft with a permanent deck park, while the 23,400-ton {{sclass|Implacable|aircraft carrier|4}} featured increased hangar capacity with a {{convert|458|x|62|x|14|ft|m|adj=on}} upper hangar and the addition of a {{convert|208|x|62|x|14|ft|m|adj=on}} lower hangar, forward of the after elevator, which had a total capacity of 52 Swordfish-sized aircraft or a mix of 48 late-war aircraft in the hangar plus 24 aircraft in a permanent deck park,<ref>{{citation |last=Roberts |first=John |title=British Warships of the Second World War |location=London, UK |publisher=Chatham Publications |year=2000 |page=61 |isbn=9781861761316}}</ref> but carried up to 81 aircraft with a deck park.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.navweaps.com/index_oob/OOB_WWII_Pacific/OOB_WWII_Carrier-Raids_Home-Islands.htm |title=Order of Battle - Carrier Raids on the Home Islands : 24-28 July 1945 |first=Daniel |last=Muir |work=NavWeaps |year=2004 |access-date=9 November 2015 |quote=HMS ''Implacable'': 48 Seafires, 21 Avengers and 12 Fireflies}}</ref> 

The 27,500-ton USN {{sclass|Essex|aircraft carrier|4}} had a {{convert|654|x|70|x|17.5|ft|m|adj=on}} hangar that was designed to handle a mix of 72 prewar USN aircraft.<ref>{{citation |last=Roberts |first=John |title=The Aircraft Carrier Intrepid |location=London, UK |publisher=Conway Maritime Press |year=1982 |isbn=9780851772516}}</ref> but carried up to 104 late-war aircraft using both the hangar and a permanent deck park.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.navweaps.com/index_oob/OOB_WWII_Pacific/OOB_WWII_Carrier-Raids_Home-Islands.htm |title=Order of Battle - Carrier Raids on the Home Islands : 24-28 July 1945 |first=Daniel |last=Muir |work=NavWeaps |year=2004 |access-date=9 November 2015 |quote=USS ''Bennington'': 37 Hellcats, 37 Corsairs, 15 Helldivers and 15 Avengers}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Francillon |first=René |title=US Navy Carrier Airgroups Pacific, 1941-1945 |location=London |publisher=Osprey Press |year=1978 |isbn=9780850452914}}</ref>  The experience of World War II caused the USN to change their design policy in favor of armored flight decks on much larger ships: "The main armor carried on {{USS|Enterprise|CVN-65|2}} is the heavy armored flight deck. This was to prove a significant factor in the [[USS Enterprise fire|catastrophic fire and explosions]] that occurred on ''Enterprise''{{'}}s flight deck in 1969. The US Navy learned its lesson the hard way during [[World War II]] when all its carriers had only armored hangar decks.  All attack carriers built since the {{sclass|Midway|aircraft carrier|4}} have had armored flight decks."<ref>{{citation |last=Cracknell |first=William H. |title=Warship Profile No. 15: USS ''Enterprise'' (CVAN 65) Nuclear Attack Carrier |location=Windsor, Berkshire |publisher=Profile Publications |year=1972 |page=56}}</ref>