Royal Navy carriers had homing beacons to help their aircraft find the carrier again. The beacon rotated once a minute, the pilots synchronized their watches to

Royal Navy carriers had homing beacons to help their aircraft find the carrier again. The beacon rotated once a minute, the pilots synchronized their watches to the beacon before taking off, when they heard the signal through their headphones the second hand on their watch would indicate the bearing back to the carrier. RN strike aircraft also had their own radar which made it easier to find things.