What was the reasoning behind British armoured carrier hangars?
Short answerThe hangar was treated as a highly dangerous internal space, akin to a magazine, so protection aimed to preserve the carrier against air attack and surface threats.
NotesThe explanation presents the hangar as the carrier equivalent of a magazine: a concentrated space full of fuel, aircraft, weapons, and other explosive material. An enemy will deliberately try to hit it, and treaty-era upperworks were often lightly built to save weight. British designers therefore wrapped the hangar in armour to contain damage from air attack and a possible cruiser breakthrough. The choice was shaped by global operations and a chronic shortage of escorts, not solely by an expectation of fighting under Mediterranean land-based air power.