John Loring was born in October 1775 at the start of the American War of Independence to Joshua Loring, High Sheriff of Massachusetts. John's grandfather, Joshua Loring, had served in the navy in the Seven Years' War, commanding a squadron on the Great Lakes. The Loring family were Loyalists, and were ultimately forced to flee to Britain. In 1789, 13-year-old John Loring joined the Royal Navy, serving in HMS "Salisbury" before joining HMS "Victory" at the outbreak of the French Revolutionary Wars. Loring was badly wounded early in the conflict at the Siege of Toulon, but in 1794 was in independent command of a gunboat at the Siege of Bastia and later served in the sloop HMS "Fleche" before joining Admiral Sir Hyde Parker's flagship HMS "St George", seeing combat at the Battle of Genoa and the Battle of Hyères Islands in 1795.