Rear-Admiral John Monkton (c. 1754 – October 1826) was a Royal Navy officer of the late eighteenth century who is best known for his service in the French Revolutionary Wars as a commander of a ship of the line seeing action in several engagements, particularly the Battle of Groix in 1795.

It was in this conflict, serving in Maidstone, that he saw his first action, capturing hundreds of enemy merchant vessels operating from the Leeward Islands.

[1] In 1777 he returned to Britain and was promoted to lieutenant, serving on the hired armed ship Two Sisters off Northern Scotland.

In 1779 he joined the frigate HMS Vestal, then under the command of Captain George Cranfield Berkeley, with whom Monkton was to have a lengthy and productive professional relationship.

In this frigate, Monkton raided French shipping off Newfoundland and twice escorted convoys relieving Gibraltar during the Great Siege.