This study focuses on the flow modifications generated by a flat plate stabilizer placed downstream of a half-cylinder compared to the wake formation without the plate. For moderate Reynolds number, a snapshot proper-orthogonal-decomposition method based on particle-image-velocimetry (PIV) is used to analyze the complex dynamics of the flows and to highlight typical swirl formation mechanisms. Using this tool, the near-wake structures, the kinetic aspects, the energy contributions, the degree of organization of the structures and their temporal behaviour are identified. A strong link between the Strouhal number, the mean vorticity and the Total Energy is observed. The interference of the shear layer with the stabilizer has an atypical influence on the wake characteristics.