Supermarine fouled it up with the Attacker
I'm pretty sure I read the Navy wanted a tailwheel as they didn't know if tricycle undercarriages would be suitable for carrier operations. Presumably the jet blast wouldn't bother an armoured deck too much, unlike grass or tarmac.
No idea why as Capt. "Winkle" Brown had already landed both an Airacobra and a Vampire on deck with no problems.
Re earlier discussions mentioning the Hermes, Duxford has the last remaining fuselage on display. Unfortunately the rest of the airframe was scrapped.