The field of ocean engineering was formally identified as such in the 1960s. Prior to that decade, civil, mechanical, and electrical engineers and naval architects concentrated on ocean-related technologies in rather narrow areas. Two books that helped define ocean engineering in the 1960s are those by Wiegel (1964) and edited by Myers, Holm, and McAllister (1969). These books are still often referenced today. The integrated field of ocean engineering primarily resulted from the discovery of massive oil deposits beneath the sea beds. This discovery led to the increased production of both fixed and floating offshore structures and ancillary systems designed to support extraction systems for the energy resource.

Some of the contemporary ocean engineering areas are listed in Table 1.1. The areas discussed in this book are identified by an asterisk (*) in the table. The primary focus of this book is on wave-induced forces and the subsequent effects of ocean structures.

A large number of the engineering problems that must be faced in the design of ocean engineering systems involve water waves in one form or another. The engineer's ability to deal with these problems depends on the extent of their knowledge of the physics of water waves. In this book, basic and intermediate analytical techniques used in water-wave hydromechanics are presented. Each chapter contains a number of worked examples designed to help the reader better understand the various wave-related phenomena.