Francis Dawson-Paul (1916–1940) was a fighter ace in the Fleet Air Arm of the Royal Navy during the Second World War. He was seconded to the Royal Air Force during the Battle of Britain serving with No. 64 Squadron RAF. Between the 1 and 25 July he shot down seven and a half German aircraft and was then shot down himself over the English Channel. Taken prisoner by the crew of a German E-boat he died of his wounds five days later. In those 24 days of combat he became the first naval air ace of the battle and the highest scoring naval ace on the Supermarine Spitfire, a record which still stood by the end of the war.