Hydrodynamic characteristics of a bluff cylinder oscillating along transverse direction in steady flow were experimentally investigated at Reynolds number of $2{ imes}10^5$. The effects of non-dimensional frequency, oscillating amplitude and Reynolds number on drag force, lift force and phase angle are studied. Vortex shedding mechanics is applied to explain the experimental results. The results show that explicit similarities exist for hydrodynamic characteristics of an oscillating cylinder in high and low Reynolds number within subcritical regime. Consequently, it is reasonable to utilize the test data at low Reynolds number to predict vortex induced vibration of risers in real sea state when the Reynolds numbers are in the same regime.