List of ship launches in 1978

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.

The list of ship launches in 1978 includes a chronological list of all ships launched in 1978.

Date	Country	Builder	Location	Ship	Class / type	Notes
7 January	United Kingdom	Appledore Shipbuilders Ltd.	Appledore	Markinch	Cargo ship	For J. & J. Denholm Ltd.[1]
10 January	France	Chantiers de France	Dunkerque	S.A. Sederberg	The Big Whites-type refrigerated cargo ship	For Deutsche West-Afrika-Linie
14 January	United States	Lockheed Shipbuilding	Seattle, Washington	Frank Cable	Emory S. Land-class submarine tender	For United States Navy.
21 January	United States	Ingalls Shipbuilding	Pascagoula, Mississippi	Nassau	Tarawa-class amphibious assault ship	For United States Navy.
27 January	United Kingdom	Harland & Wolff	Belfast	Coastal Hercules	Supertanker	For Pomona Shipping Co.[2]
31 January	France	Chantiers Navals de La Ciotat	La Ciotat	S.A. Waterberg	The Big Whites-type refrigerated cargo ship	For Deutsche West-Afrika-Linie
7 February	Peru			Villavisencio	Modified Lupo-class frigate	For Peruvian Navy
18 February	Denmark	Frederikshavn Vaerft	Frederikshavn	Mercandian Transporter II	Type FV 610 Ro-Ro ship	For Per Henriksen[3]
24 February	West Germany	Husumer Schiffswerft GmbH	Husum	Nordfriesland	Ferry	For Wyker Dampfschiffs-Reederei Föhr-Amrum GmbH[4]
25 February	United States	Ingalls Shipbuilding	Pascagoula, Mississippi	John Rodgers	Spruance-class destroyer	For United States Navy.
1 March	United States	Todd Pacific Shipyards	Seattle, Washington	Duncan	Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigate	For United States Navy.
3 March	Finland	Valmet Vuosaari shipyard	Helsinki	Yulius Fuchik	Barge carrier	For V/O Sudoimport
3 March	Norway	Ankerløkken Verft Glommen A/S	Fredrikstad	Costa Rica	RoRo-ship	For Linera Naviera Oan Atlantica S.A.[5]
5 March	United Kingdom	Appledore Shipbuilders Ltd.	Appledore	Cerinthus	Cargo ship	For Hadley Shipping Co. Ltd.[6]
17 March	West Germany	Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft	Kiel	Transvaal	Type MCS 2700 reefer	For Deutsche West-Afrika-Linie
20 March	South Korea			Merzario Espania	Ferry	For Stena Container Line
20 March	West Germany	Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft	Kiel	Poseidon	Type 209 submarine	For Greek Navy
23 March	United Kingdom	Bartram & Sons Ltd	Sunderland	Australind	Cargo ship	For Australind Steamship Co.[7]
8 April	United States	Ingalls Shipbuilding	Pascagoula, Mississippi	Leftwich	Spruance-class destroyer	For United States Navy.
25 April	United Kingdom	Swan Hunter	Wallsend, England	Exeter	Type 42 destroyer	For Royal Navy.
7 May	United Kingdom	Vickers-Armstrongs		Spartan	Swiftsure-class submarine	For Royal Navy.
19 May	France	Chantiers de l'Atlantique	Saint Nazaire	S.A. Winterberg	The Big Whites-type refrigerated cargo ship	For Deutsche West-Afrika-Linie
14 June	West Germany	Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft	Kiel	Amfitriti	Type 209 submarine	For Greek Navy.
17 June	United States	Ingalls Shipbuilding	Pascagoula, Mississippi	Cushing	Spruance-class destroyer	For United States Navy.
21 June	United States	Todd Pacific Shipyards	Seattle, Washington	Adelaide	Adelaide-class frigate	For Royal Australian Navy.
23 June	United Kingdom	Appledore Shipbuilders Ltd.	Appledore	City of Plymouth	Container ship	For Container Rentals Ltd.[8]
24 June	United Kingdom	Harland & Wolff	Belfast	Appleby	Bulk carrier	For Ropner Shipping.[9]
3 July	Soviet Union	Shipyard 340	Zelenodolsk	Krechet	Koni-class frigate	For Soviet Navy.
22 July	United States	Electric Boat	Groton, Connecticut	Bremerton	Los Angeles-class submarine	For United States Navy.
25 July	United Kingdom	Brooke Marine	Lowestoft, England	Al Munassir	Amphibious warfare ship	For Royal Omani Navy.
29 July	United States	Todd Pacific Shipyards	San Pedro, California	Wadsworth	Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigate	For United States Navy.
10 August	United States	Ingalls Shipbuilding	Pascagoula, Mississippi	Harry W. Hill	Spruance-class destroyer	For United States Navy.
August	Norway	Ankerløkken Verft Glommen A/S	Frederikstad	Centro America	RoRo-ship	For Linera Naviera Oan Atlantica S.A.[10]
18 September	Japan			Shirane	Shirane-class destroyer	For Japanese Navy.
25 September	United States	Ingalls Shipbuilding	Pascagoula, Mississippi	O'Bannon	Spruance-class destroyer	For United States Navy.
6 October	United Kingdom	Harland & Wolff	Belfast	Hornby Grange	Tanker	For Furness Withy.[11]
14 October	United Kingdom	Appledore Shipbuilders Ltd.	Appledore	City of Perth	Container ship	For Container Rentals Ltd.[12]
14 October	Denmark	Frederikshavn Vaerft	Frederikshavn	Mercandian Importer II	type FV 610 Ro-Ro ship	For Per Henriksen.[13]
21 October	United States	Newport News Shipbuilding	Newport News, Virginia	Arkansas	Virginia-class cruiser	For United States Navy.
4 November	United States	Bath Iron Works	Bath, Maine	McInerney	Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigate	For United States Navy.
16 November	West Germany	Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft	Kiel	Okeanos	Type 209 submarine	For Greek Navy
18 November	United States	Electric Boat	Groton, Connecticut	Jacksonville	Los Angeles-class submarine	For United States Navy.
21 November	Finland	Wärtsilä Turku Shipyard	Turku	Turella	Cruiseferry	For SF Line for Viking Line traffic
25 November	United States	Ingalls Shipbuilding	Pascagoula, Mississippi	Peleliu	Tarawa-class amphibious assault ship	For United States Navy.
1 December	United States	Todd Pacific Shipyards	Seattle, Washington	Canberra	Adelaide-class frigate	For Royal Australian Navy.
2 December	France			Dupleix	Georges Leygues-class frigate	For French Navy.
14 December	United Kingdom	Swan Hunter	Wallsend, England	Illustrious	Invincible-class aircraft carrier	For Royal Navy.
15 December	United Kingdom	Yarrow Shipbuilders	Glasgow, Scotland	Brilliant	Type 22 frigate	For Royal Navy.
16 December	United States	Todd Pacific Shipyards	San Pedro, California	George Philip	Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigate	For United States Navy.
28 December	Japan	Namura Shipbuilding Company	Imari	Seatrain Oriskany	Container ship
Unknown date	West Germany	Rickmers Rederei	Bremerhaven, Germany	Emadala	Ferry	For Emadala Shipping Co
Unknown date	Ireland	Arklow Engineering Co Ltd.	Wexford	Glenbrook	Tug	For private owner.[14]