As of 2026-07-08, HMS Abdiel tops the list with 74 km/h.
- #1 HMS Abdiel — 74 km/h
1940 Abdiel-class minelayer
HMS Abdiel was an Abdiel-class minelayer that served with the Royal Navy during World War II. She served with the Mediterranean Fleet (1941), Eastern Fleet (1942), Home Fleet (1942–43), and the Mediterranean Fleet (1943). Abdiel was sunk by German mines in Italy's Taranto harbour in 1943. Although designed as a fast minelayer her speed and capacity made her suitable for employment as a fast transport. Read more on Wikipedia.
Wikidata - #2 HMS Welshman — 74 km/h
1940 Abdiel-class minelayer
HMS Welshman was an Abdiel-class minelayer of the Royal Navy, launched in September 1941. During World War II she served with the Home Fleet carrying out minelaying operations, before being transferred to the Mediterranean Fleet in mid-1942 for the Malta Convoys. She also saw service during Operation Torch. The ship was torpedoed and sunk off Tobruk by the German submarine U-617 on 1 February 1943, with the loss of 157 lives. Read more on Wikipedia.
Wikidata - #3 HNoMS Olav Tryggvason — 41 km/h
Norwegian minelayer
HNoMS Olav Tryggvason was a minelayer that was built by the naval shipyard at Horten in the early 1930s with the yard number 119. She served in the Royal Norwegian Navy until captured by the Germans in 1940. The Germans renamed her first Albatros II, and a few days later Brummer. She was wrecked in a British bombing raid in northern Germany in April 1945. Read more on Wikipedia.
Wikidata - #4 Tannenberg — 37 km/h
minelayer launched in 1935
source Wikidata - #5 HSwMS Carlskrona — 37 km/h
Swedish minelayer and ocean patrol vessel
HSwMS Carlskrona is the longest vessel in the Swedish Navy at 105.7 metres. Only Belos, the submarine rescue vessel, has a greater displacement. She was originally designed as a minelayer and is also used for exercise expeditions. She replaced HSwMS Älvsnabben in both roles. Read more on Wikipedia.
Wikidata - #6 Japanese minelayer Okinoshima — 37 km/h
Imperial Japanese Navy minelayer commissioned in 1936 and sunk in 1942
Okinoshima (沖島) was a large minelayer of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN), which was in service during the early stages of World War II. She was named after the Okinoshima Island in the Sea of Japan. She was the largest purpose-built minelayer in the IJN and the first Japanese minelayer to be equipped with a reconnaissance seaplane. Read more on Wikipedia.
Wikidata - #7 Japanese minelayer Tsugaru — 37 km/h
Japanese minelayer
Tsugaru (津軽) was a large minelayer of the Imperial Japanese Navy in service during the early stages of World War II. She was named after the Tsugaru Peninsula in northwest Aomori Prefecture of Japan. She was commissioned immediately before the start of World War II, and sunk by the American submarine USS Darter in June 1944. Read more on Wikipedia.
Wikidata - #8 ORP Gryf — 37 km/h
Polish minelayer
ORP Gryf was a large Polish Navy minelayer, sunk during the 1939 German invasion of Poland. She was one of two large Polish ships that were not evacuated to Great Britain during Operation Peking prior to the outbreak of the Polish Defensive War. She was sunk in Hel harbour on 3 September 1939 during the opening stage of World War II. Read more on Wikipedia.
Wikidata - #9 Japanese gunboat Nankai — 33 km/h
1943 Ram-class minelayer
Nankai was originally named Regulus, a Dutch Ram-class auxiliary minelayer built for the Government Navy during the Second World War. The ship was launched a few days after the start of the Pacific War in December 1941. Still incomplete, she was scuttled by the Dutch in March 1942 to prevent her capture by the Japanese, but the Imperial Japanese Navy refloated the ship and converted her into a gunboat. Read more on Wikipedia.
Wikidata - #10 Japanese minelayer Itsukushima — 31 km/h
naval warship (1929–1944)
Itsukushima (厳島) was a medium-sized minelayer of the Imperial Japanese Navy, which was in service during the Second Sino-Japanese War and World War II. She was named after Itsukushima, a sacred island in Hiroshima Prefecture of Japan. She was the first warship in the Imperial Japanese Navy with all-diesel engine propulsion. Read more on Wikipedia.
Wikidata