George Holt (born c. 1840, year of death unknown) was a
United States Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...
sailor and a recipient of the United States military's highest decoration, the
Medal of Honor
The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest military decoration and is awarded to recognize American soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen, guardians and coast guardsmen who have distinguished themselves by acts of valor. ...
.
Born in
Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border ...
in about 1840, Holt later joined the Navy from that state. By July 3, 1871, he was serving as a
quarter gunner on the . On that day, while the ''Plymouth'' was at the
Port of Hamburg
The Port of Hamburg (german: Hamburger Hafen, ) is a seaport on the river Elbe in Hamburg, Germany, from its mouth on the North Sea.
Known as Germany's "Gateway to the World" (''Tor zur Welt''), it is the country's largest seaport by volume ...
,
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
, a small boat approached the ship in a strong current. When the boat capsized, Holt and another sailor, Landsman
Paul Tobin, jumped overboard and rescued one of the boat's crewmen. For this action, both he and Tobin were awarded the Medal of Honor a year later, on October 10, 1872.
Holt's official Medal of Honor citation reads:
On board the U.S.S. ''Plymouth'', Hamburg Harbor, 3 July 1871. Jumping overboard at the imminent risk of his life, Holt, with a comrade, rescued from drowning one of a party who was thrown from a shore boat into a 4-knot, running tide while the boat was coming alongside the ship.
See also
*
List of Medal of Honor recipients during peacetime
Prior to 1963, the Medal of Honor could be awarded for actions not involving direct combat with "an enemy of the United States" or "opposing foreign force (actions against a party in which the U.S. is not directly engaged in war with).DoD Awards ...
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Holt, George
1840s births
Year of death missing
Military personnel from Louisville, Kentucky
United States Navy sailors
United States Navy Medal of Honor recipients
Non-combat recipients of the Medal of Honor