Port
 

Probably goes way back in time. Ships docked on the port side because the steering oar was on the starboard side..German backbord and steurer bord. The island would hinder loading so was stuck on the right hand side. Simples.
If the veering left theory held water then it would have to be reversed in the southern hemisphere due to the coriolis effect.

..........

Is that why I keep goin' around and around in circles.....?

Me 'Coriolis' has a lot to answer for.....

Aircraft carriers dock with Starboard side to

It may have been because most American aircraft engines rotated right-hand, looking form the cockpit, which at low airspeed and high power, would induce a torque roll to the left ... away from the aircraft carrier "island". I can't explain British carriers, which had to handle engines rotating to the left, but, then again, the British drive on the wrong side of the road ... or sumthin'.:)

Cheers,
Grog

When driving a ship you are required to "give way to the right" meaning that any vessel approaching you from the right hand side has right of way. It therefore makes sense that the driver is on the right side,(Starboard side) to see any stand on vessels. Carriers may perhaps follow this principal

IIRC
 

This excludes lighthouses ;-)

Because the planes would crash into them if they were on the left.

That is because the Americans bolted their propeller on to the back of the engine and turned it around whereas the Brits bolted theirs to the front.

The answer is simple.

The island is on the right side.
If it wasn't on the right side it would be the wrong side!

:ugh:

I'll get my coat....

Not even the Navy know that

https://www.rmg.co.uk/discover/explo...the%20nickname.

Quite amusing to see all the theories projected in a 14 year old thread until finally Reefrat comes up so quickly with the simple answer that would have made most sense to the senior officers who would have dictated the requirement in the design of the first purpose-built aircraft carriers, and could or would not have been aviators themselves in that era. The captain's sea cabin in virtually every reasonably large power-driven vessel is on the starboard side for precisely that reason so that, when called up by the officer of the watch regarding a close quarters navigational situation, they can if necessary look out and promptly see for themselves what's what on the "danger" side.

All the aviation related theories, however technically commendable, are therefore very much downstream.

I would also suggest that, contrary to Ivor's suggestion, the Andrew Miller connotation is fairly widely known in the Royal Navy.

Jack

Back in a post in April 2006 I linked to the USN History site with the same explanation of the island location.

Still to be referenced on page 18, along with fascinating mention of electric powered ships earlier in the article :hmm:

Captain Coriolis Mandolin is a left hand plucker.

If the island was on the left someone would ask why it wasn't on the right!

FB

As did the Merlin, the Griffon, which was designed/built at the request of the Royal Navy, rotated in the opposite direction, but that can be explained by the Society of British Aircraft Constructors in the late 1930's establishing guidelines including the direction of propeller rotation. Most British engines seemed to have the Griffon direction of rotation, wonder why the Merlin was an odd man out.

As to why the island is where it is seems to fall into the Royal Navy's lap. The first purpose designed carrier ever was HMS Hermes, initially it was designed to have an island on both sides with a full length deck running between them. The result of flight trials on the Eagle and Argus prompted a design change for the island to be placed to starboard, the reason given in texts being pilots preferred to turn to port if overshooting, the standard left hand circuit and having a clear view of the deck on downwind would be my assumption as well. The aircraft embarked on the Hermes, Fairey Flycatcher fighters and Fairey IIID, had the same rotation as the Griffon, so torque effects don't seem to have been a consideration.

https://www.naval-encyclopedia.com/UK/ww1/hms-hermes

The first purpose built carrier.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Hermes_(95)

Aeroplanes keep to the left, as do cars in any civilised country, so the island had to be on the right. The Cousins copied the design before realising that their cars had the wheel on the wrong side, too late mate.

I suppose that much depends upon when the left hand circuit became standard practise. If it was in place before the advent of the aircraft carrier then it would be common sense to place the island where a pilot could see the "runway" at all times during the circuit - hence the island on the right.

After initially deciding to build the island in the middle, they had a change of heart and plumped for the right...