A novel idea to reduce the resistance of a transom stern hull in displacement and semi-planing modes is investigated. By placing a spoon-shaped device in the recirculating zone behind the transom, the momentum of the forward-moving water will be absorbed, and a pushing force generated on the device. Numerical and experimental techniques are applied on a transom stern hull to optimize the shape and position of the device and to explore in detail the physics behind the gain. For the towed hull at a Froude number of 0.4, the maximum measured resistance reduction is 11%, while the computed maximum reduction is 17%. In self-propulsion with one propeller, the measured power reduction is 15%. The power cannot be computed with the applied propeller model, which is an axial body-force distribution in the propeller disk, but the reduction in thrust using the device is 11%. More significant gains are possible at smaller Froude numbers, while the effect is reduced at higher Froude numbers. Larger gains are achieved by splitting the thrust on two propellers. © 2021 The Authors