USS Commodore Perry
Featured Character – 1861-1862
USS Commodore Perry
Courtesy of the U.S. Library of Congress
USS
Commodore Perry was named after
brothers Oliver and
Matthew Perry. Oliver was the commander of American forces on Lake Erie in the War
of
1812 and Matthew was the negotiator of the treaty that opened Japan to United
States commerce in 1854. The ship was a wooden
side-wheel steam ferry built in 1859 in Williamsburg, New York, and
commissioned in October of 1861. On January 17, 1862, the Commodore
Perry sailed from Hampton Roads, Virginia, and on February
7–8, took
part in the attack on Roanoke Island, a key coastal point. Two days
later, the Commodore Perry took part in the Battle
of Elizabeth City,
where it destroyed the CSS Seabird and the CSS
Fanny, and captured the
schooner Lynnhaven the next day. In March 1862, the Commodore
Perry helped Union forces seize
.