Knots to km/h Converter
Type in any box and the rest updates instantly: knots, km/h, m/s, mph and nautical miles.
At sea, speed is measured in knots and distance in nautical miles. Use this converter to translate them into the units you know, work out how long a passage will take and see what Beaufort force a wind speed corresponds to.
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Knots conversion table
| Knots | km/h | m/s | mph |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 kn | 1.85 | 0.51 | 1.15 |
| 2 kn | 3.7 | 1.03 | 2.3 |
| 3 kn | 5.56 | 1.54 | 3.45 |
| 4 kn | 7.41 | 2.06 | 4.6 |
| 5 kn | 9.26 | 2.57 | 5.75 |
| 6 kn | 11.11 | 3.09 | 6.9 |
| 7 kn | 12.96 | 3.6 | 8.06 |
| 8 kn | 14.82 | 4.12 | 9.21 |
| 9 kn | 16.67 | 4.63 | 10.36 |
| 10 kn | 18.52 | 5.14 | 11.51 |
| 15 kn | 27.78 | 7.72 | 17.26 |
| 20 kn | 37.04 | 10.29 | 23.02 |
| 25 kn | 46.3 | 12.86 | 28.77 |
| 30 kn | 55.56 | 15.43 | 34.52 |
| 35 kn | 64.82 | 18.01 | 40.28 |
| 40 kn | 74.08 | 20.58 | 46.03 |
| 45 kn | 83.34 | 23.15 | 51.79 |
| 50 kn | 92.6 | 25.72 | 57.54 |
How to convert knots
- Knots to km/h: multiply by 1.852. Example: 10 kn × 1.852 = 18.52 km/h.
- km/h to knots: divide by 1.852. Example: 30 km/h ÷ 1.852 = 16.2 kn.
- Knots to mph: multiply by 1.151. Example: 20 kn ≈ 23 mph.
- Knots to m/s: multiply by 0.514 (roughly, halve it). Example: 10 kn ≈ 5.1 m/s.
- Nautical miles to km: multiply by 1.852. Example: 50 NM = 92.6 km.
What is a knot and why is it used at sea?
A knot is a speed of one nautical mile per hour. The nautical mile (1,852 m) equals one minute of latitude, so on a chart distances can be measured directly on the latitude scale: that is why sailors and pilots still use it.
The name comes from the chip log: a line with knots tied at regular intervals that was thrown overboard. Counting how many knots ran out in a set time gave the speed of the ship.