The added resistance of KVLCC2 in short and regular head waves has been studied theoretically and experimentally.Model tests are performed to determine how well the asymptotic formula (Faltinsen et al.1980) predicts the typical level of added resistance in short waves.Because the asymptotic formula neglects the effects of ship motions,it is combined with theoretical methods to calculate the added resistance in long waves using an R function to predict the added resistance in the intermediate wavelength region where both ship motions and wave reflection are important.A unique feature of this experiment is that the ship model is divided into three segments to explore the added resistance distribution with respect to hull segment.This paper discusses the sensitivity of experimental results to the quality of the incident regular head waves.Moreover,a novel procedure for analyzing added resistance is described.Finally,the experimentally determined added resistance of KVLCC2 is compared with theoretical results.It is shown that the added resistance from the combined theoretical methods agrees well with experimental results in both the intermediate and short wave regions.The use of hull segments shows that added resistance is concentrated primarily at the bow.