Admiral of the Fleet Sir James Elphinstone Erskine KCB DL JP (2 December 1838 – 25 July 1911) was a Royal Navy officer. As a junior officer he served on the North America and West Indies Station. This was a difficult time in relations between the United Kingdom and the United States following the Trent Affair, an international diplomatic incident that occurred during the American Civil War when the United States Navy frigate USS San Jacinto intercepted the British mail packet RMS Trent.