Paper 27. The Stability of a Ship in a Simple Sinusoidal Wave

The linear differential equations governing the motion of a ship in a sinusoidal wave disturbance are derived from the principles of rigid body dynamics. Stability criteria are obtained when the linear differential equations have ( a) constant coefficients and ( b) periodic time-dependent coefficients that are needed to describe the ship in a following sinusoidal wave. The frequency of encounter between ship and wave is not necessarily zero.