George Townshend (29 October 1716 – August 1769) was a British naval commander.

Townshend was the eldest son of Charles Townshend, 2nd Viscount Townshend, and his second wife Dorothy, sister of Prime Minister Sir Robert Walpole.

[1] Townshend served in the Royal Navy and, having been promoted to post captain on 30 January 1739, he was given command of the third-rate HMS Bedford in 1743 and saw action at the Battle of Toulon in February 1744[2] before commanding British fleet at the Siege of Genoa in 1746 during the War of the Austrian Succession.

[3] He served as Commander-in-Chief of the Jamaica Station from 1749 to 1752, and having been promoted to rear admiral on 6 January 1755, he served as Commander-in-Chief of the Jamaica Station again from 1755 to 1757.

[4] Promoted to vice admiral in February 1757 and to full admiral in 1765, he died in August 1769.