Deck-edge lifts and the first longitudinal arresting wires

Who introduced deck-edge elevators, and why did British carriers retain centerline lifts?

American designers introduced deck-edge elevators, while British centerline practice reflected their deck construction and experience operating in the North Sea and North Atlantic.

American carrier designers receive credit for the deck-edge elevator, which suited their flight-deck construction. British designers followed a different path after repeated testing in rough northern waters, where aircraft could slide over the side. That hazard led to the earliest British arresting wires, which ran lengthwise along the deck rather than across it. Their initial purpose was to keep a landed aircraft from toppling overboard, rather than stopping increasingly fast aircraft in the later transverse-wire fashion.