Captain Thomas James Young, VC (1827 – 20 March 1869) was a Royal Navy officer and a recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.
He was approximately 30 years old, and a lieutenant in the Royal Navy, serving with a Naval Brigade from HMS Shannon during the Indian Mutiny when the following deed took place for which he was awarded the VC.
On 16 November 1857 at Lucknow, British India, naval guns were brought up close to the Shah Nujeff mosque, and the gun crews kept up a steady fire in an attempt to breach the walls, while a hail of musket balls and grenades from the mutineers inside the mosque caused heavy casualties.
The joint citation reads: Lieutenant (now Commander) Young, late Gunnery Officer of Her Majesty's ship "Shannon," and William Hall, "Captain of the Foretop," of that Vessel, were recommended by the late Captain Peel for the Victoria Cross, for their gallant conduct at a 24-Pounder Gun, brought up to the angle of the Shah Nujjiff, at Lucknow, on the 16th of November, 1857.
His Victoria Cross is displayed at the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich, London.