Thomas Harding (born 1837, date of death unknown) was a Union Navy sailor in the American Civil War who received the U.S. military's highest decoration, the Medal of Honor, for attempting to save an officer from drowning.

[1][2] On June 9, 1864, the blockade runner Pevensey was chased down, run aground near Beaufort, North Carolina, and suffered a boiler explosion.

Harding and others took a small boat from Dacotah to Pevensey and loaded it with some of the blockade runner's cargo of arms and uniforms.

[1][2] Harding's official Medal of Honor citation reads: Served as captain of the forecastle on board the U.S.S.

Such conduct is worthy of appreciation and admiration--a sailor risking his own life to save that of an officer.