The generation of internal waves in a submarine rectangular trench by normally incident surface waves has been investigated through laboratory experiments and theory. A linear model was developed for small-amplitude, simple harmonic wave motions. In this model, the fluid outside the trench is homogeneous, and the fluid in the trench is composed of two homogeneous layers of different densities separated by a transition region of linear density variation; viscous dissipation is treated based on the assumption of a laminar boundary layer. In the experiments, the stratification in the trench was created using fresh water and salt water, and a scanning laser beam and detector system was used to measure the amplitude of internal waves. The study shows that, when the frequency of the surface waves corresponds to the natural frequency of internal waves, the amplitude of internal waves becomes large compared to the amplitude of surface waves. The natural frequency of oscillation of internal waves decreases as the thickness of the density interface increases and the depth of the lower fluid decreases. Two distinct classes of internal waves were observed, namely, standing internal waves when the lower fluid was deep, and travelling internal waves when the lower fluid was shallow. The linear model predicted the response curve for internal waves quite well in all the cases investigated. It was also found that the internal waves were strongly damped when the depth of the lower fluid was small compared to the wavelength of internal waves.