National Maritime Center Providing Credentials to Mariners Q212 Navigation General-Oceans (Sample Examination) Page 1 of 20
Choose the best answer to the following Multiple Choice questions. 1. A chart has extensive corrections to be made to it. When these are made and the chart is again printed, what term is given to this chart issue? o (A) Revised edition o (B) First edition o (C) Reprint (D) New edition 2. Which term describes a light, feathery deposit of ice caused by the sublimation of water vapor directly into the crystalline form, on objects whose temperatures are below freezing? (A) Frost o (B) Dew o (C) Snow o (D) Glaze 3. Some locations maintain a zone time of -13. What are the Greenwich time and date if the zone time and date are 0152, 10 January? (A) 1252, 9 January o (B) 1452, 9 January o (C) 0052, 11 January o (D) 1452, 11 January 4. The largest waves (heaviest chop) will usually develop where the wind blows. o (A) in the same direction as the flow of the current (B) against the flow of the current o (C) at right angles to the flow of the current o (D) over slack water 5. At evening stars, the last stars that should be observed are those with an azimuth in what quadrant? o (A) Northern (B) Western o (C) Southern o (D) Eastern Page 2 of 20
6. A vessel's position should be plotted using bearings of. o (A) fixed objects (B) fixed known objects on shore o (C) buoys close at hand o (D) All of the above 7. What do isogonic lines on a chart indicate? (A) Points of equal variation o (B) The magnetic latitude o (C) The magnetic dip o (D) Points of zero variation 8. Which instrument is designed to maintain a continuous record of atmospheric pressure? (A) A barograph o (B) An aneroid barometer o (C) A mercurial barometer o (D) A thermograph 9. Under the IALA-A Buoyage System, a green spar buoy with a triangular topmark would indicate that the buoy. o (A) may be left close aboard on either side o (B) is marking the preferred channel (C) should be left to port when heading out to sea o (D) is on the north side of a point of interest 10. Which observation is NOT used in determining the wind direction? o (A) Whitecaps o (B) Waves (C) Swells o (D) Low clouds Page 3 of 20
11. Which part of a sextant mounted directly over the pivot of the index arm? (A) The index mirror o (B) The telescope o (C) The micrometer drum o (D) The horizon glass 12. Your vessel is on course 150 T, speed 17 knots. The apparent wind is from 40 off the starboard bow, speed 15 knots. What is the speed of the true wind? o (A) 9.0 knots o (B) 10.2 knots (C) 11.0 knots o (D) 12.0 knots 13. By convention, what color is the earth's north magnetic pole? o (A) Red o (B) Black o (C) White (D) Blue 14. A line of position is. o (A) a line connecting two charted objects o (B) the position of your vessel o (C) not used in a running fix (D) a line on some point of which the vessel may be presumed to be located 15. On a chart, the characteristic of the light on a lighthouse is shown as flashing white with a red sector. Which is TRUE of the red sector? o (A) It serves no significant purpose o (B) It is used to identify the characteristics of the light (C) It indicates a danger area o (D) It indicates the limits of the navigable channel Page 4 of 20
16. You are steering 231 T, and a light is picked up dead ahead at a distance of 12.3 miles at 0338. You change course to pass the light 4 miles off abeam to starboard. If you are making 16.5 knots, what is your ETA at the position 4 miles off the light? o (A) 0426 o (B) 0429 (C) 0420 o (D) 0423 17. Which is the main factor that causes the direction of the southeast trade winds? o (A) The equatorial current (B) The rotation of the earth o (C) The change of seasons o (D) The humidity 18. If an observer in the Northern Hemisphere faces the surface wind, where is the center of low pressure located? (A) To the right, and slightly behind o (B) To the right, and slightly in front o (C) To the left, and slightly behind o (D) To the left, and slightly in front 19. Which of the following is a characteristic of a lighted cardinal mark? o (A) Fixed (B) Very quick flashing o (C) Flashing o (D) Occulting 20. In the North Sea area, you sight a buoy showing a quick white light with 6 flashes, followed by one long flash at 15 second intervals. Which of the four topmarks shown in illustration D030NG below would be fitted to this buoy? (A) A o (B) B o (C) C o (D) D Page 5 of 20
21. When trying to sight a lighthouse you notice a glare from a town in the background. How does this affect the range at which the light may be sighted? o (A) Increased slightly due to extra lighting o (B) Increased if the light is red or green due to contrast with the glare o (C) Unchanged (D) Considerably reduced and difficult to distinguish 22. Under the IALA-A Buoyage System, when entering from seaward, a buoy indicating the preferred channel is to starboard may have which of the following? (A) square topmark o (B) long-flashing light characteristic o (C) conical shape o (D) green light 23. Your vessel is participating in the Voluntary Observing Ship Program, you are preparing WS Form B- 80 as seen in illustration D041NG below. The sky is overcast, and the anemometer indicates that the apparent wind is from 144 relative at 8 knots. You are on course 162 T at 15 knots. How should you encode group Nddff? o (A) 91521 o (B) 81408 o (C) 01615 (D) 83322 24. In a cyclone, where is the lowest pressure found? (A) In the center o (B) In the cold front o (C) On the outer edge o (D) In the warm front 25. With regard to GPS, how can a civilian receiver may be capable of achieving the same accuracy as a military receiver? o (A) Only if your vessel is equipped with a Doppler receiver o (B) If the satellites are all below 15 in elevation (C) If the selective availability is set to zero o (D) When the horizontal dilution of precision is high Page 6 of 20
26. What does the expression "the air is saturated" mean? o (A) The precipitation has commenced o (B) The cloud cover is 100% o (C) The vapor pressure is at its minimum for the prevailing temperature (D) The relative humidity is 100% 27. Which clouds is a thin, whitish, high cloud popularly known as "mares' tails"? o (A) Stratus o (B) Cumulus o (C) Altostratus (D) Cirrus 28. Fog generally clears when the. o (A) wind direction changes o (B) temperature increases o (C) wind speed increases (D) All of the above 29. If it is impossible to avoid a hurricane in the Northern Hemisphere, which is the most favorable place to be when the storm passes? (A) In that half of the storm lying to the left of the storm's path o (B) In the eye (center) of the storm o (C) In that half of the storm lying to the right of the storm's path o (D) In the dangerous semicircle 30. Which statement about gyrocompass error is TRUE? o (A) The sign (E or W) of the error will change with different headings of the ship. (B) The amount of the error and the sign will generally be the same on all headings. o (C) Any error shown by a gyro repeater will be the same as the error of the master compass. o (D) Any error will remain constant unless the compass is stopped and restarted. Page 7 of 20
31. How can the accuracy of an azimuth circle be checked? o (A) sighting a terrestrial range in line and comparing the observed bearing against the charted bearing o (B) ensuring that the alignment marks on the inner face of the circle are in line with those on the repeater on relative bearings of 000 and 090 (C) comparing observed azimuths at different altitudes with computed values at the times of observation to see if the difference is constant o (D) aligning the relative bearing markings so that 000 is on the lubber's line and the line of sight passes over the center of the compass 32. In illustration D044NG below, what type of buoy is indicated by the letter A? o (A) Spar (B) Can o (C) Nun o (D) Pillar 33. How many characters does the short text messaging feature of the automatic identification system (AIS) allows for? o (A) 56 characters o (B) 64 characters o (C) 128 characters (D) 158 characters 34. What will a veering wind do? o o (A) Circulate about a high pressure center in a clockwise manner in the Southern Hemisphere (B) Circulate about a low pressure center in a counterclockwise manner in the Northern Hemisphere (C) Change direction in a clockwise manner in the Northern Hemisphere o (D) Vary in strength constantly and unpredictably 35. In illustration D045NG below, what two shapes shown are used to indicate a preferred channel? o (A) A and B o (B) C and D o (C) B and C (D) A and D Page 8 of 20
36. Your vessel is leaving New York harbor in dense fog. As the vessel slowly proceeds toward sea, you sight a green can buoy on the starboard bow. Which action should you take? o (A) Pass the buoy close to, leaving it to your port. o (B) Stop and fix your position. (C) Stand on, leaving the buoy to your starboard. o (D) Turn hard right to get back into the channel. 37. Yesterday your chronometer read 03h 01m 56s at the 1500 GMT time tick. Today your chronometer read 03h 01m 54s at the 1500 GMT time tick. What is the chronometer rate? o (A) +2s o (B) 2s fast (C) -2s o (D) 1m 54s fast 38. A great circle crosses the equator at 157 W. It will also cross the equator at what other longitude? o (A) 157 E o (B) 57 W o (C) 57 E (D) 23 E 39. What is published by the U.S. Coast Guard? o (A) Tide Tables o (B) Nautical Charts (C) Light List o (D) U.S. Coast Pilot 40. When is the Moon farthest from the Earth? o (A) At quadrature (B) At apogee o (C) At full Moon o (D) At the lunar solstice Page 9 of 20
41. You are underway on course 120 T and can make 12 knots. The eye of a hurricane bears 150 T at 120 miles. The hurricane is on course 295 at 20 knots. What course should you steer at 12 knots to have the maximum CPA? o (A) 312 o (B) 330 (C) 348 o (D) 001 42. When a dual purpose marking is used, how should the mariner following the Intracoastal Waterway be guided? o (A) By the color of the aid o (B) By the shape of the aid o (C) By the color of the top band (D) By the shape of the yellow mark 43. Which term is used to describe the time interval between successive wave crests? o (A) Trough (B) Period o (C) Epoch o (D) Frequency 44. When does a Doppler speed log indicate speed over ground? o (A) At all times o (B) The unit can only speed over ground when there is no current (C) When senseing the bottom in depths of less than 600 feet o (D) When the unit is in the volume reverberation mode 45. What is the equivalent of 10 min. 52 sec. in arc units? o (A) 0 47' o (B) 1 12' (C) 2 43' o (D) 3 52' Page 10 of 20
46. Which information must automatic identification systems (AIS) automatically provide to appropriately equipped shore stations, vessels and aircraft? o (A) Vessel's type o (B) Vessel's course o (C) Navigational status (D) All of the above 47. Which hand held instrument is used to measure distances between objects and the ship? o (A) A vernier o (B) A hygrometer (C) A stadimeter o (D) A psychrometer 48. Where can information about the direction and velocity of rotary tidal currents be found? o (A) Tide Tables o (B) Nautical Almanac o (C) Mariner's Guide (D) Tidal Current Tables 49. Which is the dividing meridian between zone descriptions -10 and -11? o (A) 135 30'E o (B) 145 00'E o (C) 150 00'E (D) 157 30'E 50. On an isomagnetic chart, which term is used for the line of zero variation? o (A) The zero variation line (B) An agonic line o (C) An isogonic line o (D) A variation line Page 11 of 20
51. The navigational triangle uses parts of two systems of coordinates, one of which is the celestial equator system, which is the other system? o (A) Astronomical system o (B) Terrestrial system o (C) Ecliptic system (D) Horizon system 52. In the Northern Hemisphere, an observer at point II in illustration D014NG below, should experience a wind shift from what direction? o (A) east, counterclockwise to south-southwest (B) southwest, clockwise to northwest o (C) northeast, counterclockwise to northwest o (D) northeast, clockwise to west-southwest 53. Aneroid barometers are usually calibrated to indicate atmospheric pressure in which units? (A) Inches of mercury and millibars o (B) Inches of mercury and centimeters o (C) Inches of mercury and millimeters o (D) Feet of mercury and millibars 54. What is the name of a cloud of marked vertical development (often anvil-shaped) and produces showers? o (A) Cirrus (B) Cumulonimbus o (C) Altocumulus o (D) Cirrocumulus 55. The Sailing Directions (Enroute) contain information on all of the following EXCEPT which topic of information? o (A) Outer dangers to navigation o (B) Tidal currents o (C) Major port anchorages (D) Ocean currents Page 12 of 20
56. When outbound from a U.S. port, what does a buoy displaying a flashing red light indicate? o (A) A junction with the preferred channel to the left o (B) A wreck to be left on the vessel's starboard side o (C) A sharp turn in the channel to the right (D) The port side of the channel 57. The revision date of a chart is printed on which area of the chart? (A) Lower left corner o (B) Part of the chart title o (C) Top center o (D) Any clear area around the neat line 58. Which term is the angle measured eastward from the vernal equinox along the celestial equator often expressed in time units? o (A) Local sidereal time o (B) Greenwich sidereal time (C) Right ascension o (D) Sidereal hour angle 59. Your vessel is proceeding up a channel, and you see a pair of range lights that are in line dead ahead. The chart indicates that the direction of this pair of lights is 283 T, and the variation is 13 E. If the heading of your vessel at the time of the sighting is 278 per standard compass, what is the deviation? o (A) 5 E o (B) 5 W o (C) 8 E (D) 8 W 60. Magnets in the binnacles of magnetic compasses are used to reduce which effect? o (A) Local attraction o (B) Variation (C) Deviation o (D) Static build-up Page 13 of 20
61. While taking weather observations, you determine that the wind is coming from the west. In the weather log, how would you record the wind direction? o (A) 000 o (B) 090 o (C) 180 (D) 270 62. Which term is used to describe the wind speed and direction observed from a moving vessel? o (A) The anemometer wind o (B) The coordinate wind o (C) The true wind (D) The apparent wind 63. A List of Lights entry (L Fl) is a single flashing light which shows a long flash of not less than which duration? o (A) 1.0 second duration o (B) 1.5 seconds duration (C) 2.0 seconds duration o (D) 3.0 seconds duration 64. The Sailing Directions (Planning Guide) contain information on all of the following EXCEPT which item? (A) Coastal features o (B) Ocean basin environment o (C) Military operating areas o (D) Ocean routes 65. Which is TRUE concerning air masses near the earth's surface? (A) They move from areas of high pressure to areas of low pressure o (B) Air masses are not affected the earth' gravity o (C) They are not deflected by the earth's rotation o (D) In North America the air masses move from east to west Page 14 of 20
66. What is the primary source of the earth's weather? (A) The sun o (B) The solar system o (C) The oceans o (D) The moon 67. What is a common unit of measure for atmospheric pressure? o (A) Feet o (B) Degrees o (C) centimeters (D) Inches 68. The difference between the heights of low and high tide is the. (A) range o (B) period o (C) distance o (D) depth 69. What is the standard atmospheric pressure measured in inches of mercury? (A) 29.92 o (B) 500.0 o (C) 760.0 o (D) 1013.2 70. What is a lighted safe water mark fitted with to aid in its identification? (A) A spherical topmark o (B) A red and white octagon o (C) Red and white retroreflective material o (D) A sequential number Page 15 of 20
National Maritime Center Providing Credentials to Mariners D014NG 5/23/2016 Adapted for testing purposes only Further reproduction prohibited without permission Page 16 of 20
National Maritime Center Providing Credentials to Mariners D030NG 5/23/2016 Adapted for testing purposes only Further reproduction prohibited without permission Page 17 of 20
National Maritime Center Providing Credentials to Mariners D041NG 5/23/2016 Adapted for testing purposes only Further reproduction prohibited without permission Page 18 of 20
National Maritime Center Providing Credentials to Mariners D044NG 5/23/2016 Adapted for testing purposes only Further reproduction prohibited without permission Page 19 of 20
National Maritime Center Providing Credentials to Mariners D045NG 5/23/2016 Adapted for testing purposes only Further reproduction prohibited without permission Page 20 of 20