Vice-Admiral Sir David Mitchell ( – 1 June 1710) was a Royal Navy officer and courtier who served as the Black Rod from 1698 to 1710.
He came from humble origins, being descended from, as John Charnock put it, a family "more distinguished for their integrity than their riches". When he was sixteen years old, his father apprenticed him to the master of a trading vessel from Leith. Having served this apprenticeship, he acted as mate aboard various vessels engaged in the Baltic trade.
On the outbreak of the Third Anglo-Dutch War in 1672, he was pressed into service in the Royal Navy. He is recorded serving as a midshipman aboard the in the Mediterranean from 31 October 1673 to 15 October 1674, under the captaincy of Edward Russell. He followed Russell to the in 1676, and participated in his voyage to Newfoundland. hoisting his flag aboard the to escort the king across to Holland.