The HMS Abdiel (M39) was the lead ship of the Abdiel-class "mine-laying cruisers". A class of six fast minelayers designed for quick minelaying operations close to enemy waters or shipping lanes, the ships of the class featured exceptionally high top speed that even rivals destroyers and sufficient armaments to fend off the enemy if detected. Because of these unusual characteristics, the Abdiel-class often found themselves in roles that they were not intended for, especially as a troop transport. Abdiel also found herself in these risky missions. Abdiel primarily operated around the waters between Tunisia and Sicily, in which her minefields claimed dozens of Italians destroyers and torpedo boats moving in and out of Tunisia. After minelaying and landing operations around the Mediterranean between 1941-43, Abdiel was sunk on 10 September 1943 during the Operation Slapstick landings off the coast of Taranto, Italy, struck by German submarine-laid mines.

Introduced in Update "Apex Predators", the Abdiel is a peculiar ship in the game much like in real life. Due to how everyone spawns at ranges in-game as opposed to sailing from the port into a specific shipping lane in real life, the Abdiel cannot be used in her intended role as a "mine-laying cruiser", and any attempt at roleplaying her intended roles in-game would end in disaster due to her mine racks being effectively a huge fatal weak spot. As such, in practice, the Abdiel can be best described as a "large destroyer" due to her destroyer-calibre armaments and very high top speed, while having survivability between a large destroyer and a small cruiser. Because of this, Abdiel primarily excels at being a spearhead in lower-tiered bluewater battles, capable of taking some punishments and allowed the teammates to concentrate fire on enemy ships, though she can be easily outclassed by any proper cruisers or more advanced destroyers in uptiers.