Vice-Admiral James Charles Tancred (17 September 1864 – 9 September 1943), born James Charles Cleghorn, was a British officer of the Royal Navy.

James Charles Cleghorn was born on 17 September 1864, the second son of Captain George Cleghorn, JP DL, of the 17th Lancers, and his wife, Mary Anne Hay Lumsden, daughter of Colonel Thomas Lumsden CB, of Belhelvie Lodge, Aberdeenshire.

His father was born with the surname Cleghorn, but changed it to Tancred by Royal Licence in 1885.

[3] He was promoted to commander in 1901,[4] and in January 1903 was posted to the Vivid for Devonport Dockyard Reserve.

[6] Captain Tancred was in command of HMS Argyll when she ran aground by Bell Rock Lighthouse, off the coast of Angus, Scotland, in 1915; the ship was wrecked, but the crew was rescued without loss.