The gradual replacement of wooden ship bearings

When did metal bearings replace wooden bearings in ships?

The broad transition began around the 1920s, with earlier adoption in some large ships and gradual replacement elsewhere.

The answer avoids giving a single fleet-wide replacement date. Larger or more advanced ships began adopting metal bearing arrangements earlier, while older vessels retained wooden components longer. The 1920s are offered as the period when metal bearings became the general direction and wooden systems began to disappear. Actual timing depended on each ship's construction, refit schedule, and machinery. The change is therefore best understood as an incremental engineering transition rather than a sudden policy switch.