In the present report, an optimal control force for ship maneuvering motion is evaluated on the basis of the linear optimal regulator theory under the constraint of input magnitude. And comparison is made between the result and the solution of the optimal control problem which is formulated by variational calculus with two point boundary values. Numerical calculation is made for course keeping maneuver under a wind disturbance. A tanker-type ship having a rudder as control input is employed. From the results of numerical simulation, it is indicated that some similarities are observed in control forces obtained by these procedures when the time taken in saturation of the control input is not so great. Moreover, it is pointed out that the former procedure based on the optimal regurator theory will be useful for evaluating the approximate optimal input.