List of ship commissionings in 1978

The list of ship commissionings in 1978 includes a chronological list of all ships commissioned in 1978.

	Operator	Ship	Flag	Class and type	Pennant	Other notes
9 January	Birka Line	Prinsessan	Finland	Ferry		Former Finnhansa with Finnlines
16 January	Sessan Linjen	Fennia	Finland	Ferry		Chartered from Svea Line (Finland)
February	Kefalliniki Sa	Ainos	Greece	Ferry		Ex-Manic with La Traverse Nord-Sud Ltd
4 March	United States Navy	Oldendorf[1]		Spruance-class destroyer	DD-972
11 March	United States Navy	Merrill[1]		Spruance-class destroyer	DD-976
11 March	United States Navy	Cincinnati		Los Angeles-class submarine	SSN-693
15 March	Imperial Iranian Navy	Khadang		Kaman-class fast attack craft	P223
23 March	Imperial Iranian Navy	Joshan		Kaman-class fast attack craft	P225
31 March	Imperial Iranian Navy	Paykan		Kaman-class fast attack craft	P224
31 March	Imperial Iranian Navy	Falakhon		Kaman-class fast attack craft	P226
31 March	Imperial Iranian Navy	Shamshir		Kaman-class fast attack craft	P227
3 April	Minoan Lines	Knossos	Greece	Ferry		Former Saga with Swedish Lloyd
24 April	Svea Line (Finland)	Fennia	Finland	Ferry		In Silja Line traffic
10 May	Polferries	Rogalin	Poland	Ferry		Ex-Aallotar chartered by Polferries from Effoa
13 May	DFDS Seaways	Dana Anglia	Denmark	Ferry
20 May	United States Navy	John Young[1]		Spruance-class destroyer	DD-973
3 June	United States Navy	Briscoe[1]		Spruance-class destroyer	DD-977
9 June	P&O Normandy Ferries	nf Tiger	United Kingdom	Ferry		Ex-Katteget with Jydsk Færgefart A/S
5 August	United States Navy	Mississippi		Virginia-class cruiser	CGN-40
5 August	United States Navy	Comte de Grasse[1]		Spruance-class destroyer	DD-974
19 August	United States Navy	Stump[1]		Spruance-class destroyer	DD-978
22 August	Imperial Iranian Navy	Gorz		Kaman-class fast attack craft	P228
1 September	Stena Line	Stena Oceanica	Sweden	Ferry		Former Patricia with Swedish Lloyd. Heavily rebuilt before entered service.
26 October	Royal Netherlands Navy	Kortenaer		Kortenaer-class frigate	F807
11 September	Imperial Iranian Navy	Gardouneh		Kaman-class fast attack craft	P229
23 September	United States Navy	Belleau Wood		Tarawa-class amphibious assault ship	LHA-3
14 October	United States Navy	Conolly[1]		Spruance-class destroyer	DD-979
21 October	United States Navy	Arkansas		Virginia-class cruiser	CGN-41
9 November	Stena Line	Stena Baltica	Sweden	Ferry		Former Peer Günt with Aarhus-Oslo Linie
16 December	United States Navy	Moosbrugger[1]		Spruance-class destroyer	DD-980