The M 1935-class minesweepers were the first ships of their kind built by Germany after World War I and proved to be highly successful and versatile. They were used for sweeping and laying minefields, escorting convoys, patrolling, and training crews. However, this class of ship was very complex and expensive to produce, particularly due to its power plant. It used oil-fired boilers, which required extremely labor-intensive maintenance. A total of 69 ships of this class were built, 34 of which were destroyed during World War II. The surviving ships were given to the victorious countries.

One such ship was the minesweeper M-17. Laid down on September 6, 1938, it was launched on July 29, 1939, and entered service with the Kriegsmarine on January 17, 1940. After the war, in November 1945, it was transferred to the USSR as reparations. There, it served in the Black Sea under the new name T-921 until 1955. Then, it was reclassified as a staff ship and renamed Kacha. It served in this capacity for three more years. In October 1958, it was decommissioned and later destroyed as a target ship.

The M-17 was introduced in Update 2.9 "Direct Hit". In terms of gameplay, the M-17 is very similar to its premium counterpart, the M-802, but it has slightly worse air defense and less protection. While the destroyer is not particularly mobile, it has quite good and diverse armament, a large crew, and very good survivability.