Admiral of the Fleet Sir James Alexander Gordon, GCB (6 October 1782 – 8 January 1869) was a Royal Navy officer.

Gordon became commanding officer of the 28-gun frigate HMS Mercury which took part of a hard-fought action between three British ships and the combined forces of a Spanish convoy, 20 gunboats and land artillery off the town of Rota during the Napoleonic Wars.

[2] He transferred to the frigate HMS Révolutionnaire in 1795 and served under Admiral Lord Bridport at the Battle of Groix in June 1795 during the French Revolutionary Wars.

He transferred to the 74-gun HMS Goliath and served under Sir John Jervis at the Battle of Cape St Vincent in February 1797 and, having been promoted to midshipman, he served under Admiral Sir Horatio Nelson at the Battle of the Nile in August 1798 when a crushing defeat was inflicted on the French fleet commanded by François-Paul Brueys d'Aigalliers.

[3] In the Caribbean later that year Gordon, on an independent mission, was captured by the Haitian government of Toussaint Louverture and spent four months in prison before being released by cartel.

[3] He was without a command until 1807, when he took over the 28-gun frigate HMS Mercury, engaged in blockade duties off Cádiz, and took part of a hard-fought action between three British ships and the combined forces of a Spanish convoy, 20 gunboats and land artillery off the town of Rota in April 1808.

[4] He took command of the frigate HMS Seahorse in September 1812, escorting convoys for the West Indies and enforcing the blockade of France.

[6] An obituary in Macmillan’s Magazine hailed him as "The Last of Nelson’s Captains"[15] and a biography by Brian Perrett argued that his career was the principal model for that of C. S. Forester's hero Horatio Hornblower.