List of ship commissionings in 1940

The list of ship commissionings in 1940 includes a chronological list of ships commissioned in 1940. In cases where no official commissioning ceremony was held, the date of service entry may be used instead.

Date	Operator	Ship	Class and type	Notes	Ref
18 January	Kriegsmarine	U-63	Type IIC submarine		[citation needed]
1 March	Kriegsmarine	Adolf Vinnen	weather ship	ex-fishing trawler Gustav Adolf Kühling	[citation needed]
6 March	United States Navy	Tippecanoe	Patoka-class oiler		[citation needed]
unknown date	United States Coast and Geodetic Survey	Explorer	survey ship	entered service in spring 1940	[citation needed]
1 April	French Navy	Richelieu	Richelieu-class battleship
6 April	Royal Navy	Gladiolus	Flower-class corvette		[citation needed]
20 April	Kriegsmarine	U-120	Type IIB submarine		[citation needed]
23 April	Royal Norwegian Navy	Honningsvåg	Naval trawler	ex-Malangen, captured from Germany	[citation needed]
25 April	United States Navy	Wasp	aircraft carrier		[citation needed]
28 May	Kriegsmarine	U-121	Type IIB submarine		[citation needed]
13 June	Kriegsmarine	Tiger	torpedo boat	ex-Norwegian Sleipner-class destroyer Tor	[citation needed]
15 June	Kriegsmarine	U-137	Type IID submarine		[citation needed]
17 June	United States Navy	Abbot	Wickes-class destroyer	recommissioned from reserve	[1]
27 June	Kriegsmarine	U-138	Type IID submarine		[citation needed]
8 July	Kriegsmarine	Hessen	weather ship	converted sealer	[citation needed]
24 July	Kriegsmarine	U-139	Type IID submarine		[citation needed]
1 August	Kriegsmarine	Prinz Eugen	Admiral Hipper-class cruiser		[citation needed]
7 August	Kriegsmarine	U-140	Type IID submarine		[citation needed]
20 August	Kriegsmarine	Bismarck	Bismarck-class battleship		[citation needed]
21 August	Kriegsmarine	U-141	Type IID submarine		[citation needed]
22 August	Kriegsmarine	Karl Meyer	Karl Meyer-class seaplane tender	completion date	[citation needed]
4 September	Kriegsmarine	U-142	Type IID submarine		[citation needed]
9 September	Royal Navy	Castleton	Town-class destroyer	ex-USS Aaron Ward, commissioned at Halifax upon transfer from the United States Navy under the command of Cmdr. Frank H. E. Skyrme	[2]
9 September	Royal Navy	Clare	Town-class destroyer	ex-USS Abel P. Upshur, commissioned at Halifax upon transfer from the United States Navy	[3]
18 September	Kriegsmarine	U-143	Type IID submarine		[citation needed]
23 September	Royal Navy	Charlestown	Town-class destroyer	ex-USS Abbot transferred as part of the destroyers-for-bases deal	[1]
24 September	Royal Canadian Navy	St. Clair	Town-class destroyer		[citation needed]
2 October	Kriegsmarine	U-144	Type IID submarine		[citation needed]
16 October	Kriegsmarine	U-145	Type IID submarine		[citation needed]
23 October	Royal Navy	Lancaster	Town-class destroyer	Ex-USS Philip	[citation needed]
23 October	Royal Navy	Mansfield	Town-class destroyer	Ex-USS Evans	[citation needed]
23 October	Royal Navy	Montgomery	Town-class destroyer	Ex-USS Wickes	[citation needed]
30 October	United States Navy	Santee	Cimarron-class oiler (1939)	ex-merchant tanker Seakay	[citation needed]
30 October	Kriegsmarine	U-146	Type IID submarine		[citation needed]
4 November	United States Navy	Sangamon	Cimarron-class oiler	ex-Esso Trenton	[citation needed]
13 November	Kriegsmarine	U-149	Type IID submarine		[citation needed]
26 November	Royal Navy	Newark	Town-class destroyer	Ex-USS Ringgold	[citation needed]
27 November	Kriegsmarine	U-150	Type IID submarine		[citation needed]
5 December	Royal Navy	Newmarket	Town-class destroyer	Ex-USS Robinson	[citation needed]
5 December	Royal Navy	Newport	Town-class destroyer	Ex-USS Sigourney	[citation needed]
5 December	Royal Navy	Richmond	Town-class destroyer	Ex-USS Fairfax	[citation needed]
11 December	Kriegsmarine	U-147	Type IID submarine		[citation needed]
11 December	Royal Navy	King George V	King George V-class battleship		[citation needed]
unknown date	Kriegsmarine	Schwabenland	seaplane tender	converted merchant	[citation needed]
unknown date	Kriegsmarine	August Wriedt	weather ship	ex-FV August Wriedt	[citation needed]

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by adding missing items with reliable sources.