CACrown ArchivesThe cinema collection
EN/FR
Search
Menu
Research dossier · General Reference

Patrick Reid (Medal of Honor)

United States Navy Medal of Honor recipient

Cross-disciplinary reference desk with index cards, atlas, dictionary and catalogue
General referenceInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionMay 9, 2026
Entity authorityQ7147526 ↗
Source-derived summary

Patrick Reid (June 17, 1875 – October 23, 1924) was a United States Navy sailor and a recipient of the United States military's highest decoration, the Medal of Honor.

Biography

Reid was born on June 17, 1875, in Dublin, Ireland. He joined the U.S. Navy from New York in 1895 and by September 8, 1910, was serving as a chief watertender on the USS North Dakota (BB-29). On that day, while the North Dakota was conducting tests using oil as fuel, an explosion occurred, killing three sailors and endangering the ship. In the engine room, pieces of hot coal and coke floated in waist-high hot water, oil was aflame above one of the boilers, and the entire room was filled with smoke, steam, and fumes. Despite these dangers, Reid and five other men of the ship's engineering department entered the engine room to haul the boiler fires and perform other tasks necessary to prevent a boiler explosion. After ensuring the safety of the ship, they then searched for and removed the bodies of the three sailors killed in the initial explosion.

For these actions, Reid and the five other men were awarded the Medal of Honor a month later, on October 4. The others were Chief Machinist's Mate Thomas Stanton, Chief Machinist's Mate Karl Westa, Chief Watertender August Holtz, Machinist's Mate First Class Charles C. Roberts, and Watertender Harry Lipscomb.

Medal of Honor citation

Reid's official Medal of Honor citation reads:

For extraordinary heroism in the line of his profession during the fire on board the U.S.S. North Dakota where Reid was serving, 8 September 1910.

Editorial summary

This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Patrick Reid (Medal of Honor)” as united States Navy Medal of Honor recipient. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.

Editorial reviewA concise reference frame for defining the subject, testing terminology and identifying the institution closest to the evidence. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1875, 1924, 1895, 1910—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1875-06-17. The account is most persuasive where Patrick, Reid and Medal can be independently traced.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The subject matters to the general reference register because the source frames it as united States Navy Medal of Honor recipient. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.

Evidence profile

The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated May 9, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q7147526. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1875, 1924, 1895 and 1910.

Critical limits

A concise general-reference account can conceal disagreements about scope, terminology or the weight assigned to individual sources. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.

Best used for
  • Subject orientation
  • Search vocabulary
  • Locating named sources
Verify next

The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Patrick Reid (Medal of Honor)”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Patrick Reid (Medal of Honor) primary sources, Patrick Reid (Medal of Honor) archive and Patrick research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Patrick Reid (Medal of Honor)”?
  2. What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
  3. Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
Subject index

Search terms from this dossier

Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Patrick Reid (Medal of Honor)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.