Lieutenant Commander John Elliott Smart DSO, OBE, VRD (1 March 1916 – 3 February 2008) was an officer in the Royal Navy, who commanded one of the midget submarines that attacked the German cruiser Lützow and the Japanese cruiser Takao during the Second World War.

Smart was born on 1 March 1916 in Northumberland in England and joined the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve (RNVR) in 1938, his commission as a sub-lieutenant was confirmed on 3 October 1939.

[3] The XE class submarines HMS XE1 and XE3 was assigned to Operation Struggle, an attack on the Japanese cruisers Myōkō and Takao in the Johore Strait.

Smart was in command of XE1, targeting the Myōkō but after 16 hours ran out of time and laid the charges next to Takao, that had already been attacked by XE3.

The attack on Takao lead to appointment as a Companion of the Distinguished Service Order (DSO),[4] and as an Officer of the Legion of Merit from the United States.