After the fire, Illustrious ordered that only rubber hammers be used in the hangar, and the instruction spread across the fleet. The carrier staff had already recommended them in 1932, but the Admiralty had not endorsed the recommendation. Henderson later arranged stocks of suitable equipment while Third Sea Lord. Concern that the rubber would perish helped keep those stocks in warehouses, including at Alexandria, until operational need forced their use.
Notable Point · 50:09-51:27
The hangar fire revives an unadopted rubber-hammer recommendation
Suitable hammers were already in storage when the fire forced the fleet to adopt an earlier safety recommendation.