Editing Oliver Hazard Perry (section)

==Early naval career==
Through his father's influence, Perry was appointed a [[midshipman]] in the United States Navy, at the age of thirteen, on April 7, 1799. Perry sailed aboard {{USS|General Greene|1799|6}}, of which his father was commanding officer, on her maiden voyage in June 1799. The ship made its first stop in [[Cuba]], charged with receiving American merchant ships and providing escort from [[Havana]] to the United States.<ref name="Bloom"/><ref>[[#Mackenzie40|Mackenzie, 1840]], p. 40</ref> Perry's service aboard ''General Greene'' continued during the [[Quasi-War]] with [[French First Republic|France]].<ref>[[#Barnes|Barnes, 1912]], p. 11</ref> He first experienced combat on February 9, 1800, off the coast of the French colony of [[Haiti]], which was in a [[War of Knives|state of rebellion]].<ref>[[#Brown|Brown, 2006]], Oliver Hazard Perry, p. 226</ref><ref>[[#Barnes|Barnes, 1912]], p. 16</ref>

During the [[First Barbary War]], he served aboard {{USS|Adams|1799|6}}<ref>[[#Mackenzie40|Mackenzie, 1840]], pp. 53–55</ref> and later was [[first lieutenant]] (second in command) of {{USS|Nautilus|1799|6}}. He then served under Captain [[John Rodgers (1772–1838)|John Rodgers]] on {{USS|Constitution}} and USS ''Essex''. He was placed in charge of the construction of [[gunboat]]s in Newport and [[Westerly, Rhode Island]].

Beginning in April 1809, he commanded the [[Sloop-of-war|sloop]] {{USS|Revenge|1806|6}}, engaging in patrol duties to enforce the [[Embargo Act]], as well as a successful raid to regain an American ship held in Spanish territory in Florida. On January 9, 1811, ''Revenge'' [[Ship grounding|ran aground]] off Rhode Island and was lost. "Seeing fairly quickly that he could not save the vessel, [Perry] turned his attention to saving the crew, and after helping them down the ropes over the vessel's stern, he was the last to leave the vessel."<ref name=copes>{{cite journal | last = Copes | first = Jan M. | title =The Perry Family: A Newport Naval Dynasty of the Early Republic| journal =Newport History: Bulletin of the Newport Historical Society | volume =66, Part 2 | issue = 227 | pages = 49–77| publisher = Newport Historical Society | location =[[Newport, Rhode Island|Newport, RI]] | date =Fall 1994}}</ref>{{rp|61}} The subsequent court-martial exonerated Perry, placing blame on the ship's pilot.<ref group=upper-alpha>His progression from being the subject of a [[court-martial]] for running aground to being a formidable commander who made a real difference has a striking parallel to the career of Admiral [[Chester W. Nimitz]].</ref><ref name="Graham">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BHgAAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA26 |title=Oliver Hazard Perry|first1=James Fenimore |last1=Cooper | author-link = James Fenimore Cooper |publisher=[[Graham's Magazine]] |volume=XXII |date=May 1843 |page=268 |access-date=January 7, 2011 |issue=5}}</ref> In January 2011, a team of divers claimed to have discovered the remains of ''Revenge'', nearly 200 years to the day after it sank.<ref name="NYT">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2011/01/07/us/AP-US-Shipwreck-Discovered.html?hp|title=Divers: 1811 Wreck of Perry Ship Discovered Off RI|newspaper=The New York Times|agency=Associated Press|date=January 7, 2011|access-date=January 7, 2011}}{{Dead link|date=December 2021 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes}}</ref><ref name="AOL">{{cite web|url=http://www.aolnews.com/2011/01/08/divers-say-theyve-found-1811-wreck-of-oliver-hazard-perry-ship/|title=Divers Say They've Found 1811 Wreck of Perry Ship|publisher=AOL News|date=January 8, 2011|access-date=January 9, 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110109083905/http://www.aolnews.com/2011/01/08/divers-say-theyve-found-1811-wreck-of-oliver-hazard-perry-ship/|archive-date=January 9, 2011}}</ref> Cannons from ''Revenge'' were salvaged by the U.S. Navy in 2017.

Following the court-martial, Perry was given a leave of absence from the Navy. On May 5, 1811, he married Elizabeth Champlin Mason of Newport, Rhode Island, whom he had met at a dance in 1807.<ref name="Graham"/> They enjoyed an extended honeymoon touring New England. The couple would eventually have five children, with one dying in infancy.<ref name="NPS">{{cite web|url=http://www.nps.gov/pevi/historyculture/perry.htm|title=Oliver Hazard Perry – Perry's Victory & International Peace Memorial|access-date=June 9, 2012}}</ref>