Ship collision is a common type of maritime accidents that may lead to catastrophic consequences. It is particularly important to improve the crashworthiness of ship structures. However, most of ship collision assessment method currently in use rarely specify how the shape of different bow types of ships affects their crashworthiness. In this paper, a series of dynamic impact tests on side structures subjected to various bow impacts are performed using a horizontal impact test machine. The effects of the shape parameters such as stem angles and bulb diameters on the structural crashworthiness are discussed, and their influence on the deformation and damage of the side structure is investigated by combined finite element method and the experimental method. It is found that different bow shapes significantly affect the deformation and damages of the side structure. This paper helps the understanding of the mechanics of ship collision, as well as the optimized design of ship structures for improved crashworthiness.