Commodore Matthew Calbraith Perry, A Sailor's Story
Commodore Matthew Calbraith Perry, A Sailor's Story
Commodore Matthew Calbraith Perry was born on April 10, 1794, in South Kingstown, Rhode Island, into a family already shaped by naval service. At just fifteen years old, in 1809, he entered the United States Navy, beginning a career that would span nearly five decades and help define America’s emergence as a global maritime power.
During the War of 1812, Perry served aboard the USS Revenge, USS President, and USS United States, participating in naval engagements that included encounters with HMS Little Belt and HMS Belvidera. These early years at sea forged his reputation as a disciplined officer and a serious student of naval warfare.
After the war, Perry deployed to the Mediterranean during the Second Barbary War, part of the United States’ effort to suppress piracy and protect American commerce. He later served aboard the USS Cyane, patrolling off the coast of Liberia and in the West Indies, where American naval forces worked to disrupt the international slave trade, an often overlooked but significant mission of the early U.S. Navy.
Perry received his first command in 1821 aboard the USS Shark. On March 25, 1822, while operating in southern waters, he formally claimed the Florida Keys for the United States by planting the American flag, an act symbolic of the nation’s growing naval reach.
Between sea commands, Perry spent extended periods on shore duty, including service in South Carolina and at the New York Navy Yard, where he became a driving force behind naval modernization. As Deputy Commandant of the yard, he championed the use of steam-powered warships, earned the nickname “Father of the Steam Navy,” and helped establish the Navy’s apprentice system. He also contributed to the development of the curriculum that would later form the foundation of the U.S. Naval Academy.
When the Mexican–American War began in 1846, Perry returned to active combat command as captain of the USS Mississippi. He played a critical role in amphibious and naval operations along the Gulf Coast, including the capture of Frontera, the siege of Tampico, the assault on Veracruz, and the July 1847 landing at San Juan Bautista, all of which demonstrated the effectiveness of coordinated naval and ground forces.
In 1852, President Millard Fillmore selected Perry for what would become his most historically consequential mission: opening diplomatic and commercial relations with Japan, a nation that had been largely closed to Western powers for more than two centuries. Sailing into Edo Bay on July 8, 1853, Perry arrived with a show of naval force balanced by carefully staged diplomacy. After prolonged negotiations—and a highly theatrical demonstration of American naval power—he delivered the president’s letter demanding the opening of Japanese ports.
Perry returned in February 1854, and after more than a month of diplomacy, the Convention of Kanagawa was signed. The treaty opened the ports of Hakodate and Shimoda to American ships, reshaping Japan’s relationship with the West and marking a turning point in global geopolitics.
Congress later awarded Perry $20,000 for his service, funds he used to complete his detailed report and memoir, Narrative of the Expedition of an American Squadron to the China Seas and Japan, published in 1857. The work remains a foundational primary source on the expedition.
Commodore Matthew Calbraith Perry died on March 4, 1858, from complications of rheumatic fever. He is buried at Island Cemetery in Newport, Rhode Island. His legacy endures in naval education, steam-powered warfare, and the opening of Japan to diplomacy, an imprint still felt in the modern world.
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About the Author
a.d. elliott is a wanderer, photographer, and storyteller traveling through life
She shares her journeys at Take the Back Roads, explores new reads at Rite of Fancy, and highlights U.S. military biographies at Everyday Patriot.
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