List of ship launches in 1988

The list of ship launches in 1988 includes a chronological list of all ships launched in 1988.

	Country	Builder	Location	Ship	Class / type	Notes
15 January	United States	Avondale Shipyard	Avondale, Louisiana	Comstock	Whidbey Island-class dock landing ship
20 January	United Kingdom	Swan Hunter	Wallsend	Chatham	Type 22 frigate
23 January	United States	Electric Boat	Groton, Connecticut	Topeka	Los Angeles-class submarine
23 January	United Kingdom	Vosper Thornycroft	Woolston	Quorn	Hunt-class mine countermeasures vessel
13 February	United States	Newport News Shipbuilding	Newport News, Virginia	Abraham Lincoln	Nimitz-class aircraft carrier
17 February	Japan			Sachishio	Yūshio-class submarine
17 March	Finland	Wärtsilä Marine Perno shipyard	Turku	Royal Viking Sun	Cruise ship	For Royal Viking Line
19 March	United States	Bath Iron Works	Bath, Maine	Normandy	Ticonderoga-class cruiser
19 March	France			Latouche-Tréville	Georges Leygues-class frigate
15 April	United Kingdom	Vickers Shipbuilding	Barrow-in-Furness	Talent	Trafalgar-class submarine
22 April	West Germany	Husumer Schiffswerft GmbH	Husum	Schleswig-Holstein	ferry	For Wyker Dampfschiffs-Reederei Föhr-Amrum GmbH[1]
23 April	United States	Electric Boat	Groton, Connecticut	Pennsylvania	Ohio-class submarine
30 April	Canada	Saint John Shipbuilding	Saint John, New Brunswick	Halifax	Halifax-class frigate
30 April	West Germany	C. Lühring	Brake	Eversand		For German Navy
30 April	East Germany	VEB Yachtwerft Berlin		Zander	Zander-class tug	For Volksmarine
4 June	Japan			Hamagiri	Asagiri-class destroyer
25 June	United States	Todd Pacific Shipyards	San Pedro, California	Ingraham	Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigate
15 July	United States	Ingalls Shipbuilding	Pascagoula, Mississippi	Chancellorsville	Ticonderoga-class cruiser
22 July	Turkey	Gölcük Naval Shipyard		Yıldırım	Yavuz-class frigate
31 July	Soviet Union	Șantierul Naval Oltenița	Oltenița	Omskiy-133	Omskiy type cargo ship	For North Western Fleet Company[2]
8 August	Turkey	Marinewerft	Gölcük	Dolunay	Type 209 submarine	For Turkish Naval Forces
13 August	Yugoslavia	Brodogradevna Industrija	Split, Yugoslavia	Isabella	cruiseferry	For SF Line for Viking Line traffic
15 August	United States	Pennsylvania Shipbuilding Company	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	Benjamin Isherwood	Henry J. Kaiser-class replenishment oiler
1 September	West Germany	Kröger Shipyard	Schacht-Audorf	Stollergrund	Stollengrund-class multipurpose boats	For German Navy
12 September	Japan			Setogiri	Asagiri-class destroyer
15 September	United States	Avondale Shipyard	Avondale, Louisiana	Tortuga	Whidbey Island-class dock landing ship
22 October	Finland	Wärtsilä Marine Perno shipyard	Turku, Finland	Athena	cruiseferry	For Rederi AB Slite for Viking Line traffic
23 October	United States	Bath Iron Works	Bath, Maine	Monterey	Ticonderoga-class cruiser
12 November	United States	Electric Boat	Groton, Connecticut	Miami	Los Angeles-class submarine
19 November	France	DCN	Brest	Foudre	Foudre-class landing platform dock	For French Navy
3 December	United States	Avondale Shipyard	Avondale, Louisiana	Leroy Grumman	Henry J. Kaiser-class replenishment oiler
4 December	Soviet Union		Mykolaiv	Riga	Kuznetsov-class aircraft carrier	Renamed Varyag in 1990, transferred to PLAN in 1998
21 December	Japan			Abukuma	Abukuma-class destroyer escort
25 December	Japan			Sawagiri	Asagiri-class destroyer
Unknown date	Netherlands	K Damen	Boven-Hardinxveld	Konarak	Hendijan-class vessel	For Islamic Republic of Iran Navy