Thomas Jenkins (c. 1831 – unknown) was a Union Navy sailor in the American Civil War and a recipient of the United States military's highest decoration, the Medal of Honor, for his actions during the Siege of Vicksburg.

Under heavy fire from a Confederate artillery battery, Jenkins and three other men swam back and forth between the riverbank and the sinking ship, helping crewmen who could not swim reach shore.

Unbeknown to them, the battery's guns had been removed from view by simply lowering them from their carriages, both to protect them from the fire of ships on the river and to deceive the Union forces.

The commander of the battery had discovered the Union signal code, and when he intercepted a message describing the Cincinnati's mission, he had the guns re-assembled during the night and concealed them in brush.

Still under intense fire, Jenkins and three others, Landsman Thomas E. Corcoran, Boatswain's Mate Henry Dow, and Seaman Martin McHugh, swam back and forth, helping their crewmates to shore.

Serving bravely during this action, Jenkins was conspicuously cool under the fire of the enemy, never ceasing to fight until this proud ship went down, "her colors nailed to the mast.