This paper deals with experimental selection of a cooling system of a brushless synchronous generator with permanent magnets and an additional excitation, designed and built in Department of Ship Electrical Power Engineering in Gdynia Maritime University. Three cooling system were tested: with an aluminium radiator and natural cooling with the aluminium radiator and an external fan and the aluminium radiator and two external fans. Results of thermal tests are presented for a machine with built-in thermocouples. The selection of cooling system for the investigated machine is based on the experimental results