Blame the propellers: The surprising reason aircraft carrier islands sit on the right
October 11, 2025
Aircraft carriers are among the most complex vessels ever built, yet they share one consistent quirk: their islands – the tall control towers housing the bridge, radar and flight operations – are almost always on the starboard side.
This convention, dating back more than a century, wasn’t chosen for aesthetics or naval superstition. It emerged from the aerodynamic behaviour of early propeller aircraft.
Experimenting with aircraft carriers
The first aircraft carriers appeared around the First World War as naval engineers sought ways to project airpower at sea. Among the pioneers was HMS Argus, a converted ocean liner launched in 1918 and the world’s first carrier with a full-length, unobstructed flight deck.
Designers initially gave Argus no island at all, fearing that any superstructure would create dangerous turbulence over the deck. But the experiment quickly exposed its flaw: without a bridge or flight-control tower, ship handling and air operations were chaotic.
HMS Argus pic.twitter.com/bQCMO63Hwd
— Postman (@Postmanden1) September 15, 2023
The crew erected temporary platforms for navigation and signalling, proving that some form of island was indispensable. Subsequent carriers reincorporated islands permanently, accepting the minor aerodynamic penalty in exchange for far greater operational control.
The carrier island convention takes shape
By the 1920s, most navies had decided to place the island on the starboard side. The reasoning was practical and aerodynamic. Early carrier aircraft were all propeller-driven, and propeller torque caused them to veer naturally to the left during take-off and go-around.
Placing the island on the right gave pilots a clear escape path. If an aircraft aborted its landing and instinctively pulled left under full power, the structure was safely out of the way. The rule held true across the Royal Navy and the US Navy, both of which standardised deck operations around right-hand islands.
The physics behind the decision
In propeller aircraft, the engine’s rotation creates four “left-turning tendencies”:
- Torque reaction – the propeller spins one way, so the aircraft rolls slightly the other.
- Spiralling slipstream – airflow from the propeller hits the tail, nudging the aircraft left.
- P-factor – at high angles of attack, the descending blade produces more thrust, pulling the aircraft left.
- Gyroscopic precession – the spinning propeller acts like a gyroscope, creating a left-turning force when pitch changes.
All four combined to make early aircraft swing port during take-off or wave-off. A starboard island gave them the maximum margin of safety.
Placing the island to starboard also complements the traditional maritime rule of the road, which dictates that vessels pass port-to-port. Having the island on the right provides commanding officers a clearer view of other ships and flight-deck operations simultaneously.
Moreover, the starboard position allows for a longer take-off run along the port side, maximising usable deck length and leaving clear space for aircraft taxiing and parking. On large carriers, where deck management is a ballet of motion and timing, that small spatial advantage makes a measurable difference.
The Japanese Imperial Navy briefly defied convention. Its carriers Akagi and Hiryū had port-side islands so they could operate in pairs, with their flight patterns mirrored to avoid conflicting landing circuits. In theory, this balanced deck operations; in practice, it complicated training and maintenance, and the idea was soon abandoned. Later Japanese carriers reverted to starboard-side layouts, cementing the global norm.
Later carrier island developments and placements
When jets arrived after the Second World War, they no longer shared the same left-pulling tendencies. Nevertheless, by then, the starboard island had become standard naval architecture. Deck layouts, crew procedures, and command positions were all designed around it.
Carriers such as the US Navy’s Nimitz and Ford classes moved their islands further aft to improve deck efficiency, but they remained firmly on the right. France’s Charles de Gaulle and India’s Vikrant followed suit.
The Royal Navy’s Queen Elizabeth-class ships introduced a unique twist: twin islands. One controls navigation, the other air operations. British engineers discovered this layout reduced turbulence over the flight deck and improved redundancy, yet both structures still sit on the starboard side.
Carriers continue to remain relevant
Even as Russia appears set to scrap its only ‘cursed’ carrier, the age of the aircraft carrier continues strong as China, the US, India, France, the UK, and Italy invest in their current or future carriers. Japan is also converting its Izumo-class ‘destroyers’ to carrying F-35Bs.
Some claim aircraft carriers have become too vulnerable to missiles, rendering them obsolete. This is not an opinion shared by China, whose ‘carrier killer’ missiles are the very weapons that are generally quoted as ostensively making them obsolete. China is currently investing heavily in developing the world’s second-largest fleet of aircraft carriers.
The tale of the carrier being obsolete is as old as the carrier itself. According to USNI News, before the US Navy even had an aircraft carrier, there were critics dismissing the new concept as “an exorbitantly expensive folly that was already obsolete due to advances in modern warfare.”
As fate would have it, five aircraft carriers (four Japanese and one American) were sunk on 4th June 1942 at the Battle of Midway. And yet, the carrier is credited as playing a central role in deciding the Pacific War. In its 100-year history, the carrier has adapted to new threats and remains one of the most potent ways to project force.
This day in 1942, begin of Battle of Midway, fought almost entirely with aircraft, in which the US destroyed Japan's first-line carrier strength and most of its best trained naval pilots.
— WWII Pictures (@WWIIpix) June 4, 2020
The US decisive victory turned the tide of World War II in the Pacific. #WW2 pic.twitter.com/PNBX3u84Wj
Meanwhile, Turkey is taking a different route and is building the world’s first large-sized purpose-built drone aircraft carrier to carry the next generation of advanced combat unmanned vehicles, like Turkey’s new Kızılelma drone.
US Navy’s F/A-XX key to future carrier warfare
In an effort to keep its carriers relevant and safe in a future peer-on-peer war, the US Navy’s carriers continue to evolve. Part of that evolution is the air wing operating on the flat tops. The Navy wants more advanced tactical fighters as China prepares to bring the new J-35 carrier-based fighter jet into service.
For the first time in forever (to quote Anna from Frozen), a non-Western navy has joined the U.S. and France in operating a true catapult carrier. China’s Fujian aircraft carrier was seen launching and recovering jets using electromagnetic catapults, a system once seen only on… pic.twitter.com/FwR5oMneLn
— Air Power (@RealAirPower1) September 22, 2025
A crucial requirement for the Navy is to have longer-ranged fighter jets. Carriers may have to operate further out at sea in the future, requiring their aircraft to operate over longer distances.
A major limitation of the US carrier fleet is the limited range of the existing F/A-18 Super Hornets, which lack the range of their larger F-14 Tomcat predecessors.
To help alleviate range issues, the US Navy is looking for ways to extend the Super Hornet range, introduce the Boeing MQ-25 Stingray tanker, and purchase longer-ranged F-35Cs.
The longer-term solution is to develop the longer-ranged sixth-generation F/A-XX fighter jet. The White House tried to suspend that programme, saying it would delay the Air Force’s F-47. However, Congress and the Senate restored funding, and it appears the fighter jet is going ahead.
