USS Perry ( DD - 844 ) USS " Perry " ( DD - 844 ) was a of the United States Navy , the fourth Navy ship of that name and the fifth named for Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry ( 1785 – 1819 ) . Perry , victor of the Battle of Lake Erie during the War of 1812 , was one of the early heroes of the U . S . Navy . " Perry " was laid down on 14 May 1945 by the Bath Iron Works Corp . , Bath , Maine ; launched on 25 October 1945 ; sponsored by Mrs . George Tilton ; and commissioned on 17 January 1946 , Commander Clyde J . Van Arsdall , Jr . , in command . Service history . 1946 – 1959 . Following shakedown off Cuba and plane guard exercises off Pensacola , Florida , " Perry " departed the east coast , on 12 June 1946 , for her first overseas deployment , a nine - month cruise which took her first to northern Europe , thence to the Mediterranean . There she joined other American units in patrolling off tension - ridden areas bordering on that sea , particularly on the Adriatic , the Aegean , and the Dardanelles — Sea of Marmara — Bosporus . Returning to her homeport , Newport , Rhode Island , on 8 March 1947 , she conducted local operations and exercises from Puerto Rico to Canada and , in addition , served as Engineering School Ship for Destroyer Forces , Atlantic Fleet , and , in October , assisted in fighting the fire which ravaged the Maine resort of Mount Desert Island . " Perry " remained in the western Atlantic until January 1951 , when she got underway again for the Mediterranean . 6th Fleet operations were followed by exercises with the British Home Fleet and in May she returned to New England and plane guard duties , local operations and training exercises . In 1952 , following her 3rd Mediterranean tour , she again served as Engineering School Ship and participated in type , fleet , and NATO exercises until resuming overseas employment in 1954 . In the Mediterranean from January to June , she served as Gunnery School Ship on her return . During the next four years " Perry " regularly deployed to the Mediterranean , patrolling , in early 1956 , off the Suez Canal as the United States attempted to promote a peaceful settlement to the mounting crisis between Israel and the Arab League nations . 1960 – 1973 . Between 29 April 1959 and 10 May 1960 " Perry " underwent Fleet Rehabilitation and Modernization ( FRAM ) Conversion , the first such conversion , at the Boston Naval Shipyard . In addition to improved living spaces , she received the latest in sonar and anti - submarine weaponry , including ASROC and DASH . Exercises in the Caribbean followed and , in August , she shifted her homeport to Mayport , Florida , whence she began operations with Task Group Alpha . Over the next two years she operated with that group , participated in Polaris missile tests in the Atlantic Missile Range , and conducted local operations and training cruises . On 2 August 1962 , she departed Florida to resume overseas deployments and for the next seven years rotated between 6th Fleet and Middle East Force tours and operations in the western Atlantic , the latter including further Polaris tests , school ship duties for the Sonar School at Key West , and , in May 1965 , patrol duties with Task Force 124 ( TF 124 ) off the Dominican Republic . In 1969 , " Perry " interrupted her previous schedule and on 11 January got underway for duty in the western Pacific . Arriving at Subic Bay , Philippines , on 29 February , she joined the 7th Fleet for operations off Vietnam . On 3 September she returned to Mayport and resumed her duties with the Atlantic Fleet , continuing them into 1970 . " Perry " was decommissioned and struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 1 July 1973 . She was sold on 24 June 1974 and broken up for scrap .