The United States is a world-leading military powerhouse, with its navy being an essential pillar of the country’s military strength and capabilities. The U.S. Navy, as the maritime force of the U.S. Armed Forces, boasts hundreds of vessels including destroyers, cruisers, patrol boats, nuclear-powered submarines, and aircraft carriers. One of its primary functions is to deter aggression from foreign hostile forces.
With a defense budget reaching a staggering $916 billion, the United States outspends the combined budgets of the next nine highest defense-spending countries. The Navy, as a key component of the U.S. military, plays a crucial role in maintaining land-based operations during conflicts by transporting food, equipment, fuel, and firepower. Even in times of peace, the U.S. Navy ensures global trade and commerce, as 90% of goods transportation relies on maritime shipping.
The U.S. Navy maintains a forward presence globally, with approximately one-third of its fleet deployed around the world, with bases spread across four continents. The strategic deployment of key naval vessels and forward bases allows the U.S. to rapidly deploy its forces to almost any location in the world in a matter of days, as U.S. warships can sail thousands of miles in a short time.
Apart from boasting 11 nuclear-powered aircraft carriers and their battle groups, the U.S. Navy possesses a variety of well-designed warships, enabling it to dominate the global maritime domain.
Utilizing data from the U.S. Navy, 24/7 Wall St. website has compiled a list ranking the top ten fastest U.S. naval vessels. It is important to note that the U.S. Navy does not disclose speed data for all its vessels, so the analysis includes only ships with available data. In cases of vessels having the same speed, those with greater displacement are ranked higher. All supplementary data, including weaponry, crew size, ship dimensions, displacement, and the number of each vessel in the naval fleet, are sourced from official U.S. Navy reports.
The vessels listed are all surface ships, including amphibious transport docks, cruisers, destroyers, as well as small patrol craft and inflatable boats. Their reported speed ranges from approximately 25 miles per hour (40 kilometers per hour) to 46 miles per hour (74 kilometers per hour).
Most vessels on the list are longer than a football field, with some capable of carrying helicopters or amphibious assault vehicles. These ships are predominantly massive in size, with astounding weights and displacements reaching several thousand tons. They are equipped with an array of weaponry including machine guns of various sizes and calibers, grenade launchers, vertical launch anti-submarine missiles, torpedoes, and Tomahawk cruise missiles.
The following are the top 10 fastest U.S. naval vessels based on their reported speeds of 46 miles per hour.
Vessel Name: Freedom-class Littoral Combat Ship
Number of Active Ships: 10
Dimensions: Length 387.6 feet, Width 57.7 feet
Displacement: 3,803 tons
Crew: N/A
Weaponry: N/A
Aircraft or Vehicles: N/A
Primary Contractor: Lockheed Martin Corporation
The Freedom-class Littoral Combat Ship is an escort ship under the U.S. Navy, belonging to a series of littoral combat ships designed for flexibility in combat missions by carrying unmanned aerial, surface, and submersible vehicles, notable for its shallow draft and high speed allowing for adaptable combat modules as per mission requirements, realizing a “plug-and-play” functionality.
Vessel Name: Landing Craft Air Cushion (LCAC)
Number of Active Ships: 91
Dimensions: Length 91.9 feet, Width 48.2 feet
Displacement: 195 tons
Crew: 5
Weaponry: 2 gun positions compatible with M2HB .50 caliber machine gun, M240 7.62mm machine gun, and MK19 MOD3 40mm grenade launcher
Aircraft or Vehicles: N/A
Primary Contractor: Textron Inc.
LCAC plays a crucial role in amphibious landing operations transporting personnel and weapon systems, with transport capacity being a key performance indicator.
Vessel Name: Riverine Command Boat
Number of Active Ships: N/A
Dimensions: Length 53 feet, Width 12 feet
Displacement: N/A
Crew: N/A
Weaponry: 4 gun mounts capable of installing M2 .50 caliber heavy machine gun, 7.62mm M240B machine gun, Mk 19 40mm automatic grenade launcher, or Mk44 GAU-17 7.62mm machine gun
Aircraft or Vehicles: N/A
Primary Contractor: N/A
Riverine Command Boat primarily operates in inland water areas like rivers, river mouths, and lakes, characterized by shallow draft, small hull size, and limited firepower composition.
Vessel Name: Mark VI Patrol Boat
Number of Active Ships: N/A
Dimensions: Length 36.1 feet, Width 10.5 feet
Displacement: 9 tons
Crew: 3
Weaponry: M60 7.62mm machine gun, MK19 40mm automatic grenade launcher, M2 .50 caliber heavy machine gun
Aircraft or Vehicles: N/A
Primary Contractor: N/A
Mark VI Patrol Boat excels in rapid response capabilities, with high speed enabling quick deployment for mission execution or standby at designated locations.
Vessel Name: Zumwalt-class Destroyer
Number of Active Ships: 3
Dimensions: Length 610 feet, Width 80.7 feet
Displacement: 17,631 tons
Crew: 197
Weaponry: 80-unit advanced Peripheral Vertical Launch (PVLS) system for launching Tomahawk cruise missiles, Evolved Sea Sparrow missiles (ESSM), Standard missiles, and ASROC vertical launch anti-submarine rockets (VLA); Two 30mm Close-In Gun System (CIGS)
Aircraft or Vehicles: One MH-60R “Seahawk” special operations helicopter
Primary Contractor: General Dynamics, Bath Iron Works
The Zumwalt-class Destroyer is the U.S. Navy’s next-generation multi-mission, land-attack, guided-missile destroyer. It showcases cutting-edge technologies in hull design, electric propulsion, situational awareness, network communications, detection navigation, and weapon systems, demonstrating the Navy’s technological prowess, strong financial capabilities, and forward-thinking design philosophy, serving as the new generation’s primary surface combatant.
Vessel Name: Arleigh Burke-class Destroyer
Number of Active Ships: 10
Dimensions: Length 567 feet, Width 55 feet
Displacement: 10,752 tons
Crew: 330
Weaponry: MK41 Vertical Launch System (Standard missiles), ASROC vertical launch anti-submarine rockets (VLA), Tomahawk cruise missiles, six MK46 torpedoes (fired from two triple torpedo tubes), Two 5-inch/54 caliber Mk45 guns, Two phalanx Close-In Weapon Systems (CIWS)
Aircraft or Vehicles: Two SH-60 “Seahawk” helicopters
Primary Contractor: Huntington Ingalls Industries, Bath Iron Works
The latest Arleigh Burke-class Destroyer is considered the U.S. Navy’s most capable and survivable surface combatant. The “Arleigh Burke” (DDG-51) is the first U.S. Navy ship to incorporate stealth technology to reduce radar cross-section, lowering its detectability and vulnerability to enemy weapons and sensors.
Vessel Name: Ticonderoga-class Cruiser
Number of Active Ships: 2
Dimensions: Length 634 feet, Width 108 feet
Displacement: 18,874 tons
Crew: 597
Weaponry: Two Close-In Weapon System (CIWS), two 25mm Mk38 guns
Aircraft or Vehicles: N/A
Primary Contractor: Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Company, Philadelphia Naval Shipyard
The Ticonderoga-class Cruiser excels in outstanding air defense capabilities, capable of simultaneously handling numerous threats from air, surface, and subsurface domains, being the first large surface combatant to install the Aegis combat system.
Vessel Name: Blue Ridge-class Amphibious Command Ship
Number of Active Ships: 13
Dimensions: Length 684 feet, Width 105 feet
Displacement: 27,888 tons
Crew: 386
Weaponry: Two Mk46 30mm guns, Two rolling airframe missile launchers, 10 .50 caliber machine guns
Aircraft or Vehicles: Two CH-53E “Super Stallion” helicopters, or two MV-22 “Osprey” tiltrotor aircraft, or up to four AH-1Z “Viper,” UH-1Y “Venom,” or MH-60 helicopters; 14 Amphibious Assault Vehicles
Primary Contractor: Huntington Ingalls Industries
The San Antonio-class Amphibious Transport Dock is one of the U.S. Navy’s cutting-edge flagships in the first half of the 21st century, integrating the functions of a tank landing ship (LST), cargo ship (LKA), dock landing ship (LSD), and dock transport ship (LPDS), capable of deriving various versions such as Amphibious Warfare, Joint Command and Control, Hospital Ship, and Ballistic Missile Defense configurations due to its versatile ship design, termed as a multipurpose ship platform (LPD Flight 2).