Ace the 2026 Surface Warfare Officer Challenge – Navigate Your Path to Success!

The main idea is that distance equals speed times time, with speed in knots meaning nautical miles per hour. Six minutes is one-tenth of an hour, so the distance traveled at a given speed is speed × 0.1, which is the same as speed divided by 10. That’s why the six-minute rule gives distance in nautical miles as speed/10. For example, at 18 knots you’d cover 1.8 nautical miles in six minutes (18 × 0.1 = 1.8). The other options don’t reflect the time factor (0.1 hour) and would produce incorrect distances.