Revise with instant feedback: the moment you pick an answer you see whether it was right, with the explanation where available. Untimed — ideal before you sit a mock exam. Questions you miss keep coming back until you know them.
Exam-day conditions: no feedback until you submit, each module scored separately like the real test, with a full question-by-question review at the end.
The real exam is passed module by module: Rules of the Road requires 90%, most other modules 70%. Chart-plotting modules are taken on paper and not included.
The free sample gives you 20 to 30 questions per module. The full bank contains every available official question, with written explanations on the popular small-vessel credentials, one-off $29, lifetime access on up to 3 devices, all credentials included.
You must pass each module separately. Most modules require 70% to pass.
The exam covers 2 modules: Deck General – Safety, Navigation General.
This page includes free sample questions drawn from the official USCG sample examinations, with a full bank of around 109 questions across all modules available with lifetime access.
Every question comes from the U.S. Coast Guard National Maritime Center's published sample examinations, which are U.S. government works in the public domain. Wheelhouse Prep is not affiliated with or endorsed by the U.S. Coast Guard.
No. The free practice tests work in your browser with no signup. Your score history is saved on your own device.
A selection of free questions from the official USCG sample examinations. Use the interactive modules above for timed, scored drills.
When taking a Pilot from a pilot vessel in a seaway, which way should you head your vessel if the ladder is on the leeward side?
How should a look-out, in the merchant service, report sightings?
Why: Lookouts report contacts in relative bearings measured from the bow (e.g., 'broad on the starboard bow'). No compass is needed at the lookout station, and the bridge instantly knows where to look relative to the ship's head.
Which of the following statements is/are TRUE in regard to Ro-Ro vessels' spaces that are "specially suitable for vehicles"?
When water is used to fight a fire on board a ship, the effect of the weight of the water must be taken into account. How much sea water will increase the weight displacement by one ton?
Charts should be corrected by using information published in which text?
Why: The Notice to Mariners (and Local Notice to Mariners) is published specifically for correcting charts and publications, listing chart-by-chart changes to aids, depths, and hazards. The other publications are themselves corrected from it.
If the gyrocompass error is east, what describes the error and the correction to be made to gyrocompass headings to obtain true headings?
Which level of accuracy can be obtained utilizing the U.S. Coast Guard's Maritime Differential GPS in an established coverage area?
Why: The Coast Guard's maritime Differential GPS broadcast corrections that provided 10-meter accuracy (typically better) throughout its established coverage areas.
When utilizing a Pacific Coast chart, which is the reference plane of soundings?
You will find daily information about the duration of slack water in a port on the Atlantic Coast in which publication?
How can the accuracy of an azimuth circle be checked?
While on a course of 349°T, a light bears 13° on your starboard bow at a distance of 10.8 miles. What course should you steer to pass 2.5 miles abeam of the light, leaving it to starboard?
Why: On the present course the light is 13 degrees off the bow at 10.8 miles, so CPA = 10.8 x sin 13 = about 2.4-2.5 miles, with the light to starboard. Maintaining 349T already gives the desired passing distance.
What is TRUE concerning new editions of Light Lists?
Why is a VLCC (100,000 DWT+) with a 30,000 Shaft Horsepower Steam Turbine slow to respond to engine movements, and has less stopping power than normal ships?
Why: A loaded VLCC has enormous displacement but comparatively modest horsepower, a small power-to-weight ratio, so the engine has little leverage over the ship's huge momentum, making her slow to respond and hard to stop.
Who must approve the vessel's trim and stability booklet?
Why: For U.S. inspected vessels the trim and stability booklet must be approved by the Coast Guard, which reviews the stability data and inclining experiment results during plan approval.
Which type of portable fire extinguisher is NOT designed for use on flammable liquid fires?
You have replaced the chart paper in the course recorder. Which statement is TRUE?
Multiple factors will have an effect on your vessel when it is maneuvering in restricted waters. Which of the following factors is the combination of sinkage and trim of the vessel?
Why: Squat is the combination of bodily sinkage and change of trim a vessel experiences underway in restricted water, caused by accelerated flow under the hull lowering pressure. Bank effects are lateral forces, not sinkage.
What are the required number and type of hand portable fire extinguishers for a galley having an area of 3,500 square feet?
You are using the anchor to steady the bow while maneuvering. When do you know you have the proper scope of anchor cable out?
Why: Steadying the bow calls for short scope so the anchor drags lightly under control. Proper scope is confirmed when slow-ahead power holds the bow steady, the anchor checks the bow without anchoring the vessel fast.
The possibility of wake damage can be reduced by following which action?
Why: Wake size depends on speed. Slowing while passing moored vessels reduces the wake and surge that could part mooring lines or slam vessels against the pier.