Nautical Speed Converter
Convert boat and aircraft speeds between knots, km/h, mph, and metres per second.
Knots
20
Breakdown
- Kilometres per hour
- 37.04
- Miles per hour
- 23.02
- Metres per second
- 10.29
- Nautical miles per 24 h
- 480
Last updated:
FAQ
What exactly is a knot?
One nautical mile per hour — 1.852 km/h or about 1.151 mph. The name comes from the old chip-log: sailors counted the knots in a rope paid out over a 28-second sandglass to measure speed.
Why is 20 knots the classic boat speed?
Passage planning uses the rule of thumb that knots × 24 = nautical miles per day, so 20 knots ≈ 480 NM/day — the comfortable sustained figure for fast ferries and many cruising yachts under power.
Is airspeed also in knots?
Yes — aviation uses knots for indicated airspeed and wind, though smaller aircraft mix in mph. At altitude, Mach number takes over as the reference, but knots remain the ATC language worldwide.
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