Rear Admiral Joseph Ballard Murdock (13 February 1851 – 20 March 1931), sometimes spelled Murdoch, was an officer in the United States Navy.

[6][7] After a tour as an instructor at the Naval Academy from October 1880 to September 1883, Murdock took a leave of absence until August 1884, followed by special duty in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, until December 1885.

He returned to sea that month, assigned to the gunboat and dispatch vessel USS Dolphin, remaining aboard her until December 1886, when he reported to the Naval Torpedo Station at Newport, Rhode Island, for a tour of duty that lasted until March 1888.

[8] Murdock served aboard the screw steamer USS Pensacola from March to April 1888, then aboard the screw sloop-of-war USS Omaha in the Asiatic Squadron from April 1888 to March 1891.

He was at the Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island, from April 1897 to April 1898, when, upon the outbreak of the Spanish–American War, he became executive officer of the troop transport and auxiliary cruiser USS Panther, seeing action aboard her in the blockade of Cuba, the landing of United States Marines along the Cuban coast, and in the Battle of Santiago de Cuba before the war ended in August 1898.

He was executive officer of the armored cruiser USS New York from October 1899 to November 1900, when he returned to the Naval War College.

[11][12] Near the end of 1902, Murdock was selected to be the commanding officer of the gunboat USS Alliance[13] in the Atlantic Training Squadron.

[18] He was commanding officer of the battleship USS Rhode Island during the round-the-world cruise of the Great White Fleet between December 1907 and February 1909.

In mid-1911, Rear Admiral Reginald F. Nicholson was chosen to succeed Murdock as commander-in-chief of the fleet as of November 1911, but Murdock had gained distinction in his handling of unrest in China related to the Xinhai Revolution of that year, and United States Secretary of State Philander C. Knox requested that Murdock be kept on as fleet commander-in-chief to allow continuity until the situation in China stabilized.