Why can bow slamming in rough weather cause hull whipping?

In naval architecture, bow slamming occurs when a ship’s bow emerges from the water during violent pitching and subsequently drops onto a rising wave surface, resulting in a heavy, shock-like impact.12

This sudden, tremendous blow against the forward end of the hull acts as a dynamic excitation force. Because the ship's structure possesses natural flexibility, this impact causes the entire hull to vibrate in a phenomenon known as whipping. Whipping is characterized as a hull vibration with a fundamental two-noded frequency, and the resulting stresses can be as significant as those experienced during standard hogging and sagging in heavy seas.12

While slamming and the subsequent whipping can often be mitigated by adjusting the ship's speed or course, these events remain a critical consideration for structural integrity due to the high local stresses they generate at the point of impact.12