Several formulae have been proposed to estimate the viscous resistance of ships by wake surveys. Both the total head and the velocity should be measured. The integration of he total head loss shows over estimations of the resistance by about 10%. Therefore measurements of the velocity are required, which need much more works. A simple method is suggested in this paper to take accout of the velocity-defect from the measured total head. It gives reasonable estimations of the viscous resistance within the experimental accuracy. Experimental data of a low-drag body of revolution in the wind-tunnel and Series 60 model, CB=0.6 in the tank are used to verify the suggested formula.