The bulbous bow originated from military ship rams in the late 19th century. In the 1920s, German passenger ships with bulbous bows broke speed records across the Atlantic. By 1935, the Normandie attained 30 knots with its bulbous bow design. The bulbous bow works by interfering with the ship's natural wave system to reduce wave resistance. Its effectiveness depends on factors like its size and the ship's Froude number. Bulbous bows can be added onto or integrated into the hull design. They provide advantages like reduced pitching, acting as a bumper, and enabling bow thruster placement.