| Date | Country | Builder | Location | Ship | Class | Service | Notes |
| 7 January | Germany | DeSchiMAG | Bremen | Lützow | Admiral Hipper-class cruiser | Kriegsmarine | |
| 9 January | UK | J. Samuel White | Cowes | Kingston | K-class destroyer | Royal Navy | |
| 17 January | France | Arsenal de Brest | Brest | Richelieu | Richelieu-class battleship | French Navy | |
| 19 January | Germany | DeSchiMAG | Bremen | Seydlitz | Admiral Hipper-class cruiser | Kriegsmarine | |
| 19 January | UK | Fairfield | Govan | Kelvin | K-class destroyer | Royal Navy | |
| 19 January | UK | Yarrow Shipbuilders | Scotstoun | Kipling | K-class destroyer | Royal Navy | |
| 21 January | Norway | Royal Norwegian Navy Yard | Horten | Odin | Sleipner-class destroyer | Royal Norwegian Navy | |
| 24 January | UK | William Denny & Brothers | Dumbarton | Royal Daffodil | Pleasure cruise ship | General Steam Navigation Co. Ltd | Assisted in Operation Dynamo, 1940 |
| 6 February | UK | Swan Hunter | Tyne and Wear | Khartoum | K-class destroyer | Royal Navy | |
| 14 February | Germany | Blohm & Voss | Hamburg | Bismarck | Bismarck-class battleship | Kriegsmarine | |
| 21 February | UK | Vickers-Armstrong | Newcastle | King George V | King George V-class battleship | Royal Navy | |
| 4 March | Netherlands | Smit P Jr. | Rotterdam | Klipfontein | Cargo / Passenger Liner | | |
| 4 March | United States | Sun Shipbuilding | Chester, Pennsylvania | Esso Seakay | Maritime Commission Type N tanker | United States Navy | |
| 7 March | UK | Harland and Wolff | Belfast | Andes | Ocean liner | Merchant | For Royal Mail Line |
| 15 March | Germany | Blohm+Voss | Hamburg | Dogu | Passenger ship | Merchant | Requisitioned for Deutsche-Afrika Linien on completion |
| 21 March | UK | William Denny & Brothers | Dumbarton | Kandahar | K-class destroyer | Royal Navy | |
| 23 March | Germany | Bremer Vulkan | Vegesack | Hannover | Cargo liner | Merchant | For Norddeutscher Lloyd |
| March | Netherlands | Van Diepen Scheepswerf Gebroeders NV | Waterhuizen | Herman Litmeyer | Coaster | Merchant | For Gebr. Elfring |
| March | Germany | DeSchiMAG | Kiel | Mars | Cargo liner | Merchant | For Neptun Line |
| 1 April | United States | Sun Shipbuilding | Chester, Pennsylvania | Esso New Orleans | Maritime Commission Type N tanker | | |
| 1 April | Germany | Kriegsmarinewerft | Wilhelmshaven | Tirpitz | Bismarck-class battleship | Kriegsmarine | |
| 4 April | United States | Newport News Shipbuilding | Newport News, Virginia | Wasp | Unique aircraft carrier | United States Navy | |
| 4 April | UK | John I. Thornycroft & Company | Woolston | Kashmir | K-class destroyer | Royal Navy | |
| 18 April | UK | Yarrow Shipbuilders | Glasgow, Scotland | Flamingo | Black Swan-class sloop | Royal Navy | |
| 18 April | UK | J. Samuel White | Cowes | Shearwater | Kingfisher-class sloop | Royal Navy | |
| 3 May | UK | Cammell Laird | Birkenhead | Prince of Wales | King George V-class battleship | Royal Navy | |
| 1 June | UK | John I. Thornycroft & Company | Woolston | Kimberley | K-class destroyer | Royal Navy | |
| 17 June | Sweden | Öresundsvarvet | Landskrona | Janus | ferry | Jahre Line[1] | |
| 7 July | UK | Yarrow Shipbuilders | Glasgow, Scotland | Black Swan | Black Swan-class sloop | Royal Navy | |
| 17 July | Brazil | J. Samuel White | Cowes | Javary | Destroyer | Brazilian Navy | Became HMS Havant with the Royal Navy |
| 5 August | Norway | Nylands Verksted | Oslo | Otra | Otra-class minesweeper | Royal Norwegian Navy | |
| 27 August | United States | New York Naval Shipyard | Brooklyn, New York | Helena | St. Louis-class cruiser | United States Navy | |
| 31 August | UK | Cochrane & Sons Ltd | Selby | Karl | Tug | Merchant | For Goteborgs Bogserings & Bargnings Akt, Gothenburg |
| 7 September | Norway | Fredrikstad Mekaniske Verksted | Fredrikstad | Tor | Sleipner-class destroyer | Royal Norwegian Navy | Captured by the Germans in 1940, renamed Tiger |
| 8 September | Poland | Gdynia Shipyard | Gdynia | Olza | freighter/dry cargo ship | Merchant | Launched prematurely due to World War II |
| 26 September | Norway | Nylands Verksted | Oslo | Rauma | Otra-class minesweeper | Royal Norwegian Navy | |
| 17 October | UK | J. Samuel White | Cowes | The James Braidwood | Fireboat | London Fire Brigade | Named for James Braidwood |
| 4 November | United States | Federal Shipbuilding and Dry Dock | Kearny, New Jersey | Esso Trenton | Maritime Commission Type N tanker | United States Navy | |
| 4 November | Denmark | Nakskov Skibsværft | Nakskov | Saturnus | | | For Ab Saturnus[2] |
| 7 November | Germany | Blohm & Voss | Hamburg | Herbert Norkus | Gorch Fock-class sail training ship | Reichsmarine | |
| 15 November | Kingdom of Italy | Gio. Ansaldo & C. | Genoa | Impero | Littorio-class battleship | Regia Marina | Never commissioned |
| 12 December | UK | Cammel Laird | Birkenhead | Atherstone | Hunt-class destroyer | Royal Navy | |
| 12 December | UK | Swan Hunter | Wallsend | Hambledon | Hunt-class destroyer | Royal Navy | |
| 14 December | UK | William Denny & Bros Ltd | Dumbarton | Invicta | Passenger Ferry | | For Southern Railway |
| 14 December | United States | Sun Shipbuilding | Chester, Pennsylvania | Mormacland | Merchant | Merchant | Transferred to the Royal Navy for conversion to HMS Archer |
| 26 December | UK | Hawthorn Leslie | Newcastle | Legion | L-class destroyer | Royal Navy | |
| 28 December | UK | VIckers-Armstrongs | River Tyne | Eglinton | Hunt-class destroyer | Royal Navy | |
| Unknown date | UK | Sir James Laing & Sons Ltd | Sunderland | British Prudence | Tanker | Merchant | For British Tanker Co Ltd. |
| Unknown date | Germany | Deutsche Werft | Hamburg | Bukarest | Cargo ship | Merchant | For Deutsche Levant Line |
| Unknown date | Netherlands | Van Diepen Scheepswerf Gebroeders NV | Waterhuizen | Caribe I | Cargo ship | Merchant | For S G Hallstrom, Amsterdam |
| Unknown date | Germany | Lübecker Maschinenbau - Gesellschaft | Lübeck | Cressida | Cargo ship | Merchant | |
| Unknown date | Germany | Nobiskrug Werft | Rendsburg | Gunther Harmann | Coaster | Merchant | |
| Unknown date | Germany | Schulte & Bruns | Embden | Klaus Wilhelm | Coaster | Schulte & Bruns | |
| Unknown date | United States | Newport News Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Co | Newport News, Virginia | Nightingale | Type C2 ship | Merchant | For Grace Line Inc. |
| Unknown date | Germany | F Schichau GmbH | Danzig | Oderbank | Coastal tanker | Kriegsmarine | |
| Unknown date | Germany | D W Kremer Sohn | Elmshorn | Trave | Cargo ship | Merchant | For Lübeck-Wyberger Dampfschiff Gesellschaft |
| Unknown date | Germany | Bremer Vulkan | Bremen | Unitas 10 | Whaler | Jurgens Van Den Brugh Margarine Verkaufs Union GmbH, Hamburg | |
| Unknown date | Netherlands | Gebroeders Bodewes Volharding | Foxhol | Venus | Cargo ship | Merchant | |
| Unknown date | Germany | DeSchiMAG | Bremen | Wiking 6 | Whaler | Hamburger Walfang-Kontor GmbH | |
| Unknown date | Germany | DeSchiMAG | Bremen | Wiking 8 | Whaler | Hamburger Walfang-Kontor GmbH | |
| Unknown date | Germany | DeSchiMAG | Bremen | Wiking 9 | Whaler | Hamburger Walfang-Kontor GmbH | |
| Unknown date | Germany | DeSchiMAG | Bremen | Wiking 10 | Whaler | Hamburger Walfang-Kontor GmbH | |