Why hidden carrier damage did not settle the armored-deck debate

Did hidden kamikaze damage to British armored carriers prove that armored flight decks were a poor long-term choice?

No. The larger problem was inadequate damage assessment and a policy of repairing old carriers when completing new ones may have been cheaper.

Hidden kamikaze damage does not by itself establish that armored carriers were a poor design. The criticism concerns inadequate damage assessment and repair, followed by a determination to keep existing ships in service. The Director of Naval Construction reportedly argued that building new carriers would cost less, but the government insisted repair was cheaper. American construction of a replacement fleet before the war ended supplies the comparison with that British policy.