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<b>Objectives</b> In order to explore the hazards of propeller ventilation and to prevent that during the ship design stage, a study of CFD numerical simulation is carried out.<b>Methods</b> The hydrodynamic performances of a propeller model with different immersion ratio and advance coefficients are calculated. The ventilation characteristics and the changes of propeller thrust and torque are analyzed. The changes of the non-constant loads of a blade are compared.<b>Results</b> The results show that, for the immersion ratio <i>h</i>/<i>D</i>=1.0, the propeller has no ventilation, and its thrust and torque also have no significant change. For 0.6≤<i>h</i>/<i>D</i>&lt;1.0, the propeller is affected by the free surface, and the thrust and torque have a certain reduction. For <i>h</i>/<i>D</i>&lt;0.6, especially at lower advance coefficients, the propeller has a significant ventilation phenomenon and see a large decrease in the thrust and torque.<b>Conclusions</b> The study shows that, it's possible the ventilation happens in small immersion ratios and at lower advance coefficients, accompanied with the thrust and torque descending rapidly and pulsing steeply.