Torque & P Factor
ORAC is correct. The Island is on the right because of the propeller airplane's tendency to go left with power added. The earliest carrier, USS Langley CV1, lay all its stacks and antennas horizontal to clear the deck for flight ops. When not in flight ops, stacks & antenna were vertical. After Langley came the standard island on the right on all carriers. Only a few were built with no island at all; USS Long Island pops into my mind as one. I operated on USS Lexington CV 16 and USS BonHommeRichard CV31 before departing for Eastern.