A viscoelastic finite element analysis is presented to investigate residual stresses occurred in a laminated cylindrical shell during cure. An incremental viscoelastic constitutive equation that can describe stress relaxation during the cure is derived as a recursive formula which can be used conveniently for a numerical analysis. The finite element analysis program is developed on the basis of a 3-D degenerated shell element and the first order shear deformation theory, and is verified by comparing with an one dimensional exact solution. Viscoelastic effect on the residual stresses in the laminated shell during the cure is investigated by performing both the viscoelastic and linear elastic analyses considering thermal deformation and chemical shrinkage simultaneously. The results show that there is big difference between viscoelastic stresses and linear elastic stresses. The effect of cooling rates and cooling paths on the residual stresses is also examined.