Matthew C . Perry Matthew Calbraith Perry ( April 10 , 1794 – March 4 , 1858 ) was a Commodore of the U . S . Navy and commanded a number of ships . He served in several wars , most notably in the Mexican - American War and the War of 1812 . He played a leading role in the opening of Japan to the West with the Convention of Kanagawa in 1854 and is often associated with the Open Door Policy . Perry was very concerned with the education of naval officers and helped develop an apprentice system that helped establish the curriculum at the United States Naval Academy . With the advent of the steam engine , he became a leading advocate of modernizing the U . S . Navy and came to be considered " The Father of the Steam Navy in the US " . Early life and naval career . Matthew Perry was the son of Sarah Wallace ( Alexander ) and Navy Captain Christopher R . Perry and the younger brother of Oliver Hazard Perry . Matthew Perry received a midshipman ' s commission in the Navy in 1809 , and was initially assigned to the USS " Revenge " , under the command of his elder brother . Under his brother ' s command , Matthew was a combatant in The Battle of Lake Erie aboard the Flagship " Lawrence " and the replacement flagship , " Niagara " . Perry ' s early career saw him assigned to several ships , including the USS " President " ( where he served as an aid to Commodore John Rodgers ( 1772 – 1838 ) ) which had been in a victorious engagement over a British vessel , HMS " Little Belt " , shortly before the War of 1812 was officially declared . He continued in this capacity during the War of 1812 . Perry was also aboard the " President " when it engaged the HMS " Belvidera " when Rodgers himself fired the first shot of the war at this vessel with a following shot that resulted in a cannon bursting , wounding Rodgers and Perry and killing and wounding others . Perry transferred to the USS " United States " , and saw little fighting in the war after that , since the ship was trapped in port at New London , Connecticut . Following the signing of the Treaty of Ghent which ended the conflict , he served on various vessels in the Mediterranean . Perry served under Commodore William Bainbridge during the Second Barbary War . He then served in African waters aboard USS " Cyane " during its patrol off Liberia from 1819 - 1820 . After that cruise , Perry was sent to suppress piracy and the slave trade in the West Indies . Later during this period , while in port in Russia , Perry was offered a commission in the Imperial Russian Navy , which he declined . Command assignments , 1820s - 1840s . Opening of Key West . Perry commanded the " USS Shark " , a schooner with 12 guns , from 1821 - 1825 . In 1763 , when Britain possessed Florida , the Spanish contended that the Florida Keys were part of Cuba and North Havana . Certain elements within the United States felt that Key West ( which was then named Cayo Hueso , meaning " Bone Key " ) could potentially be the " Gibraltar of the West " because it guarded the northern edge of the 90 mile ( 145 km ) wide Straits of Florida — the deep water route between the Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico . In 1815 the Spanish governor in Havana deeded the island of Key West to Juan Pablo Salas of Saint Augustine . After Florida was transferred to the United States , Salas sold Key West to U . S . businessman John W . Simonton for $ 2 , 000 in 1821 . Simonton lobbied the U . S . Government to establish a naval base on Key West , both to take advantage of its strategic location and to bring law and order to the area . On March 25 , 1822 , Perry sailed the " Shark " to Key West and planted the U . S . flag , physically claiming the Keys as United States property . Perry renamed Cayo Hueso " Thompson ' s Island " for the Secretary of the Navy Smith Thompson and the harbor " Port Rodgers " for the president of the Board of Navy Commissioners . Neither name stuck . From 1826 - 1827 Perry acted as fleet captain for Commodore Rodgers . Perry returned to Charleston , South Carolina for shore duty in 1828 , and in 1830 took command of a sloop - of - war , the " USS Concord " . He spent the years 1833 - 1837 as second officer of the New York Navy Yard ( later the Brooklyn Navy Yard ) , gaining promotion to captain at the end of this tour . He was a member of the Masons . Father of the Steam Navy . Perry had an ardent interest and saw the need for the naval education , supporting an apprentice system to train new seamen , and helped establish the curriculum for the United States Naval Academy . He was a vocal proponent of modernizing the Navy . Once promoted to captain , he oversaw construction of the Navy ' s second steam frigate the USS " Fulton " , which he commanded after its completion . He was called " The Father of the Steam Navy " , and he organized America ' s first corps of naval engineers , and conducted the first U . S . naval gunnery school while commanding " Fulton " in 1839 - 1841 off Sandy Hook on the coast of New Jersey . Promotion to Commodore . Perry received the title of Commodore in June 1840 , when the Secretary of the Navy appointed him commandant of New York Navy Yard . The United States Navy did not have ranks higher than captain until 1862 , so the title of commodore carried considerable importance . Officially , an officer would revert to his permanent rank after the squadron command assignment had ended , although in practice officers who received the title of commodore retained the title for life , and Perry was no exception . During his tenure in Brooklyn , he lived in Quarters A in Vinegar Hill , a building which still stands today . In 1843 , Perry took command of the African Squadron , whose duty was to interdict the slave trade under the Webster - Ashburton Treaty , and continued in this endeavor through 1844 . Mexican - American War . In 1845 , Commodore David Connor s length of service in command of the Home Squadron had come to an end . However , the coming of the Mexican - American War persuaded the authorities not to change commanders in the face of the war . Perry , who would eventually succeed Connor , was made second - in - command and captained the USS " Mississippi " . Perry captured the Mexican city of Frontera , demonstrated against Tabasco and took part in the capture of Tampico ( Nov . 14 , 1846 ) . He had to return to Norfolk , Virginia to make repairs and was still there when the amphibious landings at Veracruz took place . His return to the U . S . gave his superiors the chance to finally give him orders to succeed Commodore Connor in command of the Home Squadron . Perry returned to the fleet during the siege of Veracruz and his ship supported the siege from the sea . After the fall of Veracruz Winfield Scott moved inland and Perry moved against the remaining Mexican port cities . Perry assembled the Mosquito Fleet and captured Tuxpan in April , 1847 . In July 1847 he attacked Tabasco personally , leading a 1 , 173 - man landing force ashore and attacking the city of San Juan Bautista ( Villahermosa today ) from land . The Perry Expedition : Opening of Japan , 1852 - 1854 . In advance of his voyage to the Far East , Commodore Perry read widely amongst available books about Tokugawa - era Japan . His research even included consultation with the increasingly well - known German Japanologist Philipp Franz von Siebold , who had lived in Japan at the Dutch trading post of Dejima for eight years before retiring to Leiden in the Netherlands . Precedents . Perry ' s expedition to Japan was preceded by several naval expeditions by American ships : First visit , 1852 - 1853 . In 1852 , Perry embarked from Norfolk , Virginia for Japan , in command of the East India Squadron in pursuit of a Japanese trade treaty . Aboard a black - hulled steam frigate , he ported " Mississippi " , " Plymouth " , " Saratoga " , and " Susquehanna " at Uraga Harbor near Edo ( early Tokyo ) on July 8 , 1853 . His actions at this crucial juncture were informed by a careful study of Japan ' s previous contacts with Western ships and what could be known about the Japanese hierarchical culture . He was met by representatives of the Tokugawa Shogunate who told him to proceed to Nagasaki , the only Japanese port open to foreigners at that time ( see Sakoku ) , where there was limited trade with the Netherlands . Threat of force and negotiation . As he arrived , Perry ordered his ships to steam past Japanese lines towards the capital of Edo , and turn their guns towards the town of Uraga . Perry refused Japanese demands to leave . He then demanded permission to present a letter from President Millard Fillmore , and threatened to use force if the Japanese boats around the American squadron did not disperse . Perry attempted to intimidate the Japanese by presenting them a white flag and a letter which told them that in case they chose to fight , the Americans would destroy them . Perry ordered some buildings in the harbor shelled . ( Walworth , Arthur ; Black Ships Off Japan p . 21 ) Perry ' s ships were equipped with new Paixhans shell guns , cannons capable of wreaking great destruction with every shell . In Japan , the term " Black Ships " , used for centuries to refer to foreign trade vessels , would later come to symbolize a threat imposed by Western technology . After the Japanese agreed to receive the letter from the American President , Perry landed at Kurihama ( in modern - day Yokosuka ) on July 14 , 1853 , presented the letter to attending delegates , and left for the Chinese coast , promising to return for a reply . After Perry ' s departure , fortifications were built on Tokyo Bay at Odaiba in order to protect Edo from possible future American naval incursion . Second visit , 1854 . Perry returned in February 1854 with twice as many ships , to find that the Japanese had prepared a treaty accepting virtually all the demands in Fillmore ' s letter . Perry signed the Convention of Kanagawa on March 31 , 1854 , and departed , mistakenly believing the agreement had been made with imperial representatives . The agreement was made with the Shogun , the de facto ruler of Japan . On his way to Japan , Perry anchored off Keelung in Formosa ( modern day Taiwan ) , for ten days . Perry and crew members landed on Formosa and investigated the potential of mining the coal deposits in that area . He emphasized in his reports that Formosa provided a convenient mid - way trade location . Formosa was also very defensible . It could serve as a base for exploration as Cuba had done for the Spanish in the Americas . Occupying Formosa could help the US to counter European monopolization of major trade routes . President Franklin Pierce declined the suggestion , remarking such a remote possession would be an unnecessary drain of resources and that he would be unlikely to receive the consent of Congress . Return to the United States , 1855 . When Perry returned to the United States in 1855 , Congress voted to grant him a reward of $ 20 , 000 ( US $ in 2018 ) in appreciation of his work in Japan . Perry used part of this money to prepare and publish a report on the expedition in three volumes , titled " Narrative of the Expedition of an American Squadron to the China Seas and Japan " . He was also promoted to the grade of rear - admiral on the retired list ( when his health began to fail ) as a reward for his service in the Far East . Perry was known to have suffered severe arthritis that left him in frequent pain , and on occasion precluded him from his duties . Last years . Perry spent his last years preparing for publication his account of the Japan expedition , announcing its completion on December 28 , 1857 . Two days later he was detached from his last post , an assignment to the Naval Efficiency Board . He died awaiting further orders on March 4 , 1858 , in New York City , of rheumatism that had spread to the heart , compounded by complications of gout and alcoholism . Initially interred in a vault on the grounds of St . Mark ' s Church in - the - Bowery , in New York City , his remains were moved to the Island Cemetery in Newport , Rhode Island on March 21 , 1866 , along with those of his daughter , Anna , who died in 1839 . In 1873 an elaborate monument was placed by his widow over his grave in Newport . Family . Commodore Perry was married to Jane Slidell Perry ( 1797 - 1879 ) and had four children : Through his mother , Perry was a direct descendant of Scottish revolutionary William Wallace ( d . 1305 ) who is commonly known as Braveheart . A diplomatic note . Among other mementos , Perry presented Queen Victoria with a breeding pair of Japanese Chin dogs , previously owned only by Japanese nobility . Perry ' s flag and legacy . A replica of Perry ' s US flag is on display on board the USS " Missouri " ( BB - 63 ) memorial in Pearl Harbor , Hawaii . It is attached to the bulkhead just inboard of the Japanese surrender signing site on the starboard side of the ship . The original flag was brought from the U . S . Naval Academy Museum to Japan for the Japan surrender ceremony and was displayed on that occasion at the request of Douglas MacArthur , who was himself a blood - relative of Perry . Some photographs of the signing ceremony show that this flag was actually displayed backwards — reverse side showing ( stars in the upper right corner ) . The cloth of the historic flag was so fragile that the conservator at the Museum directed that a protective backing be sewn on it , leaving its " wrong side " visible . Today , the flag is preserved and on display at the Naval Academy Museum in Annapolis , Maryland . The pattern for the Union canton on this flag is different from the standard 31 - star flag then in use . Perry ' s flag had columns of five stars save the last column which had six stars . Perry ' s US flag was unique when it was first flown in Tokyo Bay in 1853 - 1854 . A replica of this historic flag can be seen today on the Surrender Deck of the Battleship Missouri Memorial in Pearl Harbor . This replica is also placed in the same location on the bulkhead of the veranda deck where it had been initially mounted on the morning of September 2 , 1945 by Chief Carpenter Fred Miletich .