Captain David Cheap (1697 – 21 July 1752) was a Scottish Royal Navy officer.

Cheap, then just a lieutenant, was appointed to serve under Commodore George Anson, commander of an expedition to the Pacific Ocean.

[1] The original captain of Wager died, at sea, while the expedition was still navigating the South Atlantic.

[3] Cheap had been an unpopular commander, and, after the ship was wrecked, most of his crew would not follow his instructions.

After being brought to the Chilean coast by Chono guides, Cheap and three of his former officers were captured by Spanish authorities and arrived back in Britain years after Bulkeley, and after Bulkeley had published an account of the voyage that showed Cheap in a poor light.