Laboratory experiments and analytical studies investigating the interaction of two-dimensional, uniform stratified flow with a submerged horizontal circular cylinder are presented. Measurements were made of the interfacial waves formed behind the cylinder towed horizontally at constant speeds, and of the drag and lift forces exerted on the cylinder. An analytical linear model that describes the wave field and the associated wave induced drag force is formulated. In this model, the water is modeled as a uniform flow of three layers of inviscid and immiscible fluids. A solution is found for the case of the cylinder located in the upper layer. The experiments showed that large amplitude first mode internal waves are generated when the cylinder is towed at about one half of the long wave celerity of first mode waves, and that drag and lift forces change significantly with stratification. The analytical model demonstrates the role of a finite stratified layer. For the shorter waves it predicts wave lengths well, but it underestimates wave heights and drag. Better performance was obtained by introducing an effective cylinder radius factor. For the longer waves an inviscid model seems improper and the model is not applicable. The results are applied to the proposed submerged tube bridge across Høgsfjorden in Norway.