As of 2026-10-12, HMS Illustrious tops the list with 56 km/h.
- #1 HMS Illustrious — 56 km/h
1978 Invincible-class aircraft carrier
HMS Illustrious was a light aircraft carrier of the Royal Navy and the second of three Invincible-class ships constructed in the late 1970s and early 1980s. She was the fifth warship and second aircraft carrier to bear the name Illustrious, and was affectionately known to her crew as "Lusty". In 1982, the conflict in the Falklands necessitated that Illustrious be completed and rushed south to join her sister ship HMS Invincible and the veteran carrier HMS Hermes. To this end, she was brought... Read more on Wikipedia.
Wikidata - #2 HMS Ark Royal — 56 km/h
1985 Invincible-class light aircraft carrier
HMS Ark Royal was a light aircraft carrier and former flagship of the Royal Navy. She was the third and final vessel of the Invincible class. She was built by Swan Hunter on the River Tyne and launched by them in 1981. Ark Royal was christened by Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother. She followed sister ships HMS Invincible and HMS Illustrious into service in 1985. Read more on Wikipedia.
Wikidata - #3 Japanese aircraft carrier Ryūjō — 54 km/h
Japanese light aircraft carrier
Ryūjō was a light aircraft carrier built for the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) during the early 1930s. Small and lightly built to exploit a loophole in the Washington Naval Treaty of 1922, she proved to be top-heavy and only marginally stable and was back in the shipyard for modifications within a year of completion. With her stability improved, Ryūjō returned to service and was employed in operations during the Second Sino-Japanese War. Read more on Wikipedia.
Wikidata - #4 Japanese aircraft carrier Chitose — 54 km/h
1936 Chitose-class aircraft carrier
Chitose (千歳) was a warship of the Imperial Japanese Navy that served from 1938 to 1944, seeing service as a seaplane carrier and later as a light aircraft carrier during World War II. In her initial guise as a seaplane carrier, she first saw service during the Second Sino-Japanese War in 1938, and subsequently played a key role in the Imperial Japanese Navy's development of a network of seaplane bases on the islands of the Pacific Ocean. After the outbreak of World War II in the Pacific,... Read more on Wikipedia.
Wikidata - #5 Japanese aircraft carrier Chiyoda — 53 km/h
1937 Chitose-class aircraft carrier
Chiyoda was a light aircraft carrier of the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II. Originally constructed as the second vessel of the Chitose-class seaplane tenders in 1934, she continued to operate in that capacity during the Second Sino-Japanese War and the early stages of the Pacific War until her conversion into a light aircraft carrier after the Battle of Midway. She was sunk during the Battle of Leyte Gulf by a combination of naval bombers, cruiser shellfire and destroyer-launched... Read more on Wikipedia.
Wikidata - #6 Japanese aircraft carrier Shōhō — 52 km/h
1965 Zuihō-class aircraft carrier
Shōhō was a light aircraft carrier of the Imperial Japanese Navy. Originally built as the submarine support ship Tsurugizaki in the late 1930s, she was converted before the Pacific War into an aircraft carrier and renamed. Completed in early 1942, the ship supported the invasion forces in Operation MO, the invasion of Port Moresby, New Guinea, and was sunk by American carrier aircraft on her first combat operation during the Battle of the Coral Sea on 7 May. Shōhō was the first Japanese... Read more on Wikipedia.
Wikidata - #7 HMS Centaur — 52 km/h
Centaur-class aircraft carrier that was laid down in 1944, launched in 1947 and commissioned in 1953
HMS Centaur was the first of the four Centaur-class light fleet carriers of the Royal Navy. She was the only ship of her class to be completed with the original design configuration of a straight axial flight deck, rather than the newly invented angled flight decks of her three later sister ships. She was laid down in 1944 in Belfast, with the contract being awarded to Harland and Wolff, but not launched until 22 April 1947 due to delays relating to the end of the war. She was commissioned on 1... Read more on Wikipedia.
Wikidata - #8 Japanese aircraft carrier Zuihō — 52 km/h
1936 Zuihō-class aircraft carrier
Zuihō was the name ship of her class of two light aircraft carriers built for the Imperial Japanese Navy. Originally laid down as the submarine tender Takasaki, she was renamed and converted while under construction into an aircraft carrier. The ship was completed during the first year of World War II and played a minor role in the Battle of Midway in mid-1942. She participated in the Guadalcanal Campaign during the rest of 1942. Significantly damaged during the Battle of the Santa Cruz... Read more on Wikipedia.
Wikidata - #9 HMS Invincible — 52 km/h
1977 Invincible-class aircraft carrier
HMS Invincible was the Royal Navy's lead ship of her class of three light aircraft carriers. She was launched on 3 May 1977 as the seventh ship to carry the name. She was originally designated as an anti-submarine warfare carrier, but was used as an aircraft carrier during the Falklands War, when she was deployed with HMS Hermes. She took over as flagship of the British fleet when Hermes was sold to India. Invincible was also deployed in the Yugoslav Wars and the Iraq War. During the Falklands... Read more on Wikipedia.
Wikidata - #10 HTMS Chakri Naruebet — 48 km/h
Thailand's aircraft carrier
HTMS Chakri Naruebet (911) is the flagship of the Royal Thai Navy (RTN), and Thailand's first and only aircraft carrier, although the RTN refers to her as an "Offshore Patrol Helicopter Carrier". Based on the Spanish Navy's Príncipe de Asturias design and constructed by Spanish shipbuilder Bazán, Chakri Naruebet was ordered in 1992, laid down in 1994, launched in 1996, and commissioned into the RTN in 1997. The ship is the smallest functioning aircraft carrier in the world. Read more on Wikipedia.
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