The apparently unarmed Russian Su-24 jets came so close to the USS Donald Cook on Tuesday they created "a wake in the water", the officials said.

The overflights are said to have occurred on Monday and Tuesday and were described by US officials as “more aggressive than anything we've seen in some time".

On 11 April, two Russian SU24s made 20 passes of the USS Donald Cook, according to CBS News.

The warplanes passed within 1,000 yards at an altitude of just 100 feet, reports the television network.

The American ship had just left the Polish port of Gdynia and was about 70 nautical miles off Kaliningrad in the Baltic Sea, said US officials.

On 12 April, two jets again buzzed the ship in what officials described as "simulated attack profile".

On the same day, two Russian Ka-27 Helix helicopters are said to have circled the USS Donald Cook seven times, taking photos.

In one of the overflight incidents, a Russian jet is said to have flown just 30ft (9 metres) above the destroyer.

The Russian planes did not respond to attempts by the USS Donald Cook's crew to contact them by radio, said the US officials.

The American ship's commander is said to have deemed the Russian actions "unsafe and unprofessional".

The US believes the overflights breached a 1970s agreement designed to prevent unsafe incidents at sea.