Admiral John Elphinstone Erskine (13 July 1806 – 23 June 1887) was a Royal Navy officer and Liberal politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1865 to 1874.

After three years on half-pay from 1845 to 1847 he was appointed senior officer on HMS Havannah on the Australian station.

Between 25 June and 7 October 1849, he toured Samoa, Tonga, Niue, Fiji, the New Hebrides, the Loyalty Islands and New Caledonia.

He also published A short account of the Gold Discoveries in Australia after touring the Australian goldfields in 1850.

Erskine commanded HMS Orion in the Baltic during the Crimean War and was present at the Fleet Review of 1856 at Spithead, England.