The most important single factor in cutting down the increased resistance, as well as motions, of ships running in waves appears to be a small fatness ratio; in other words, a small underwater volume compared with the ship length. This slenderness is difficult to work into ships intended to carry cargo but relatively easy for passenger ships. For reduction in the magnitude of ship motions in waves, it is important that the damping forces and moments be as large as practicable. Moderate flare in the above-water sections at bow and stern, large beam compared with draft, and fineness of the underwater sections all help to achieve the result. A deep-sea sailing yacht embodies these characteristics to a high degree.

To keep the ship reasonably dry while undergoing the rolling, pitching, and heaving motions that remain, large freeboard is essential, especially at the bow. To prevent slamming under the bow when it lifts out of water and then drops heavily upon the surface, the forefoot underwater must also be deep.

A good degree of damping is most necessary to avoid deep rolling. If this cannot be achieved by a transverse form suited to the service, such as that of a sailing yacht with a deep fin keel, it is accomplished by adding long fins on each side in the form of roll-resisting or bilge keels. When placed along the lines of flow, these keels add little to the ship resistance in calm water.

Active roll-resisting fins serve to quench the greater part of the roll on a fast ship with a reasonable expenditure of weight, space, and cost. These fins, much shorter than bilge keels but extending several times as far outboard when in use, are rotated mechanically about transverse axes to produce angles of attack and girthwise forces which continually oppose the rolling motion. Since the moments of the roll-resisting forces increase as the square of the ship speed, the active fins are ineffective at low speeds.

Passive roll-resisting tanks of flume or U shape have been extensively installed in ships. In these, the tank dimensions and quantity of water or other liquid are arranged so that the liquid moves from one side of the ship to the other to counteract the rolling motion. Active tanks make use of controllable (and reversible) axial-flow propellers placed in ducts connecting the port and starboard tanks to control the flow.

Considering the vertical accelerations involved, pitching and heaving, or a combination of the two, are particularly objectionable for passenger comfort and safeguarding of cargo. They often necessitate a reduction in speed or a change of course. Some form of passive pitch-resisting fin may be evolved which will accomplish its primary purpose without introducing detrimental features.

Hydrostatic and hydrodynamic loads in service

The naval architect must know the loads imposed upon a ship in all the conditions of its expected service in waves so that a hull structure may be designed to withstand them. Aside from the static distribution of load along the length when the ship is floating at rest in calm water, there are many possible buoyancy distributions in waves for the same loading condition of the ship. Further, the wave action and the ship motion in waves generate dynamic forces which, under certain conditions, may be extremely important. When the bow and stern are on wave crests, with a wave trough between, the ship hull sags or bends downward in the middle. As the middle body reaches a wave crest, with the ends over wave troughs, the ship bends the other way, or “hogs,” and the ends droop because of the greater buoyancy amidships. Waves also produce torsional moments and the hull twists in the seaway, as when the ship is traveling obliquely through waves. Both bending and twisting actions involve shear in the structural members, as when a region that was square in shape under no load takes the shape of a rhombus when deformed. When the ship rolls, racking strains are induced in the hull because the above-water portion wants to continue to roll as the underwater portion starts to roll back the other way. Ship motions also induce inertia forces similar to those felt in elevators when starting or stopping.

It often happens that a part of the hull and an adjacent wave surface, each parallel to and approaching the other, meet with a heavy shocklike impact known as slamming. This can occur if the bow of a ship emerges from the water on a violent up-pitch and drops down upon a rising wave surface. It can also occur if a large wave strikes an overhanging part of the ship, such as the flaring hull under the forward end of the flight deck on an aircraft carrier. The tremendous blow against one end of the hull causes the whole structure to vibrate in an action known as whipping. The strains thus caused may be as great as those encountered in sagging and hogging over large waves.

Other natural loads are those caused by wind and ice. Typhoon and hurricane winds may blow with velocities of 100 knots (185 km per hour) or more. In subfreezing weather the sea spray freezes on the exposed portions of the ship, thereby adding a substantial weight. Icebreakers must be able to withstand the shock of ramming thick solid layers of sea ice and to survive the squeezing action of pack ice.

Many of these loads may be reduced by judicious operation of the ship; for example, by slowing down or heaving to in a storm. Ship structures are designed to withstand most of them, but the exercise of good seamanship significantly lessens their intensity.