The time harmonic forced vibration of a finite cylinder excited by a point force of arbitrary orientation is analyzed by using wave techniques. The vibrational response is constructed as superposition of propagating and attenuating characteristic waves of the structure (“waveguide modes”). The propagating modes are associated with the flow of mechanical power, whereas the attenuating modes are associated with reactive energy stored in the neighborhood of the excitation. Under the assumption of a linear dependence upon the radial coordinate within the shell thickness, the elastodynamic field is completely identified by 15 quantities, 10 of them being forces and moments resultant per unit length—either circumferential or longitudinal—and the other 5 being linear or angular velocities. The 2‐D shell intensity vector has a simple expression in terms of these quantities. Numerical calculations of the intensity vector field for point forces of different orientations are presented. [Work supported by the Naval Research Laboratory.]