Why did battleships use teak decks during World War II

As a huge maritime warfare machine, the use of wooden decks on battleships may confuse many people. Not only battleships, but also ships before World War II, such as cruisers, aircraft carriers, and many civilian ships, had wooden decks. Modern cruise ships and yachts also use wooden decks in pursuit of tradition. Of course, there are steel plates underneath the wooden deck.

The ship deck is in extremely harsh working conditions, such as sunlight exposure, seawater slamming, salt corrosion... In such harsh environments, it also needs to meet many requirements such as anti slip, anti deformation, and thermal insulation. In the era when the chemical industry was not yet developed, only wood could be used, and it was not ordinary wood. For example, the noble and cool teak wood. Teak wood has special properties of insect and anti-corrosion. After being cut and installed on board, sailors/sailors still need to maintain it from time to time, such as using deck stones to press water and quartz sand to polish the deck.

Of course, no matter how it is maintained, the wooden deck will still decay after experiencing sunlight, rain, and dew. So it's necessary to replace some damaged decks every once in a while. However, the environmental friendliness and traditional use of wooden decks will keep them popular on yacht decks.