Books

Open textbooks written for reading on screen, with worked examples, interactive calculators and full solutions to the exercises. All books are free to read online.

Available

Hydrostatics & Stability

The flotation and stability of ships. The book begins with the description of hull form and the numerical integration of ship geometry, develops initial stability and trim, and continues with hydrostatic curves, stability at large angles, heeling moments, the inclining experiment, intact and damage stability, and partially supported ships in docking, grounding and launching. It closes with the stability of multihulls, submersibles, high-speed craft and offshore units.

14 chapters · worked examples · calculators · exercises with solutions

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A hypothetical 140 m tanker heeled 15 degrees to starboard in calm water, cut away at the longitudinal position of its centre of buoyancy to show the hull section: cargo tanks, double bottom and double sides, with the immersed part of the section shaded. Marked on the section, to scale: the waterline, the ship's centreline, the heel angle, the centre of gravity G, the centre of buoyancy B, the metacentre M, and the righting lever GZ.
In preparation

Seakeeping

The book develops the motions of ships in regular and irregular waves, beginning with oscillations, wave mechanics and the forces exerted by the water. It connects response calculations to comfort, loads, stability and operational limits, then examines strip theory, three-dimensional methods, nonlinear simulation and experiments. Later chapters address added resistance, impacts, hydroelasticity, unconventional craft and offshore systems, before considering onboard sensing, operational guidance and emerging data-driven methods.

20 planned chapters

View planned contents
The view forward from the bridge of a research ship heading into a North Pacific swell, with a tablet in the foreground showing an illustrative seakeeping guidance display: predicted bow acceleration plotted against heading and speed, with the present heading and speed marked close to an illustrative threshold.
R. Embley, NOAA PMEL; display added · public domain
In preparation

Manoeuvring

The book explains how the forces on a hull, propeller and steering devices determine a ship's path. It develops manoeuvring equations, course stability, whole-ship and modular models, and the experiments and computations used to determine their coefficients. It then examines stopping, berthing, shallow and confined waters, and environmental forces. The final chapters connect validated hydrodynamic models to system identification, navigation, guidance, dynamic positioning and autonomous operation.

20 planned chapters

View planned contents
A tanker's turning circle seen from above. The ship is shown where the rudder order is given and where its heading has changed by 90, 180 and 270 degrees, with its wake along the circle. The advance is measured along the original course from the rudder order to where the heading has changed by 90 degrees, and the tactical diameter at right angles to the original course to where it has changed by 180 degrees.
In preparation

Resistance & Propulsion

The book follows the prediction of ship power from the flow around the hull to the selection and operation of the propulsion system. It develops resistance components, model testing and scaling, empirical and computational methods, propeller theory, hull–propeller interaction, cavitation and machinery matching. Later chapters examine performance in service, energy-saving devices, wind assistance, design optimization and operational data. It closes with emerging propulsion concepts and the evidence needed to judge them.

21 planned chapters

View planned contents
A tanker seen head-on, under way in a moderate sea. The left half shows the ship as it appears, with white water at the bow. The right half shows it as a simulation would display it: the hull as a surface mesh, the wetted hull coloured by pressure, and the sea surface coloured by the height of the waves generated by the ship, which spread back from the bow. The simulated half is illustrative.