Joseph Aloysius Gainard (11 October 1889 - 23 December 1943) was a Captain in the United States Navy who served during World Wars I and II. Born in Chelsea, Massachusetts, he enlisted in the U.S. Naval Reserve Force on 23 November 1917. He received the Navy Cross for distinguished service while Master of the American merchant steamer SS City of Flint, seized by a German cruiser on the high seas on 9 October 1939 but returned to him in a Norwegian fjord on 3 November.