A kinematics model of the ship wake in the presence of surface waves, generated by wind is presented. It was found that the stationary wave structure behind the ship covered a wedge region with the 16.9° half an angle at the top of the wake and only divergent waves are present in a ship wake for co propagating wind waves. Wind waves field directed at some nonzero angle to the ship motion can cause essential asymmetry of the wake and compressing of its windward half. The extension of Whitham-Lighthill kinematics theory of ship wake for the intermediate sea depth is also presented. The ship wake structure essentially depends from the Froude (Fr) number based on the value of the sea depth and ship velocity. For Froude number less than unit both longitudinal and cross waves are presented in the wake region and Kelvin wake angle increased with Fr. For Fr > 1 wake angle decreased with Froude number and finally only divergent waves are presented in the very narrow ship wake.

Wave propagation and damping mechanism due to elastic coating of the sea surface is considered. The hydrodynamic performance of an elastic plate is analyzed for various conditions in terms of wave reflection and transmission, plate deflection, and surface strain. Rigidity and geometrical scales of the coating plate essentially affect the wave transmission characteristics. The model of wave propagation and scattering is constructed in the long-wave approximation. The case of elastic plate with fixed edges is considered. It is shown that optimally designed horizontal flexible membrane can be a very effective wave barrier in a beach zone.

Numerous laboratory and field experiments on nonlinear surface wave trains propagating in deep water (Lake & Yuen 1978; Ramamonjiarisoa & Mollo-Christensen 1979; Mollo-Christensen & Ramamonjiarisoa 1982; Melville 1983) have showed a specific wave modulation that so far has not been explained by nonlinear theories. Typical effects were the so-called wave phase reversals, negative frequencies, and crest pairing, experimentally observed in some portions of the modulated wave train. In the present paper, in order to explain these modulation manifestations, the equations for wavenumber, frequency, and velocity potential amplitude are derived consistently in the third-order approximation related to the wave steepness. The resulting model generalizes, for instance, the well-known nonlinear Schrödinger equation theory, to which it transforms at certain values of the governing parameters.The stationary solutions to the derived set of equations are found in quadrature and then analysed. Within well-defined ranges of the model parameters, these solutions explicitly manifest the above-mentioned wave modulation effects. In particular, they show the wave phase kinks to arise on areas of relatively small free-surface displacement in complete accordance with the experiments.The model with deeply modulated wavenumber and frequency permits one also to analyse the appropriately short surface wavepackets and modulation periods. In this case, a variety of new interesting wave solutions arises revealing complicated alteration of smooth and rough portions of the free surface. Of special importance are solitary waves, naturally generalizing envelope solitons of the nonlinear Schrödinger equation, but having a varying frequency (as a principle of the proposed theory) and a non-zero wave ‘pedestal’ at infinity. These new types of modulated surface waves should be also observable in laboratory tanks and under field conditions, because the relevant free parameters of theory are not extreme.