It varied. Most merchants travelled in the 6-9 knots range, but some were capable of 15 knots or more. The US Navy's Cimarron class were capable of 18 knots. The T-2 tankers made 14 knots, the T-3s 15.
I can show you British merchants that made 17 knots, and ones that made 7 knots. The Liberty ships and their Canadian counterparts were all capable of around 11 knots.
Convoys were limited by the speed of the slowest ship, but lone ships could and did travel faster, as they considered speed to be protection, and it was the larger ones that were faster.
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