Matthew Calbraith Perry (April 10, 1794 – March 4, 1858) was an American naval officer who commanded ships in several wars, including the War of 1812 and the Mexican-American War. He played a leading role in the opening of Japan to the West with the Convention of Kanagawa in 1854.

Perry was interested in the education of naval officers and assisted in the development of 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 United States.

Matthew Perry was a member of the Perry family, a son of Sarah Wallace (née Alexander) (1768–1830) and Navy Captain Christopher Raymond Perry (1761–1818). He was born April 10, 1794, South Kingstown, Rhode Island. His siblings included Oliver Hazard Perry, Raymond Henry Jones Perry, Sarah Wallace Perry, Anna Marie Perry (mother of George Washington Rodgers), James Alexander Perry, Nathaniel Hazard Perry, and Jane Tweedy Perry (who married William Butler).

His mother was born in County Down, Ireland and was a descendant of an uncle of William Wallace,  the Scottish knight and landowner. His paternal grandparents were James Freeman Perry, a surgeon, and Mercy Hazard, a descendant of Governor Thomas Prence, a co-founder of Eastham, Massachusetts, who was a political leader in both the Plymouth and Massachusetts Bay colonies, and governor of Plymouth; and a descendant of Mayflower passengers, both of whom were signers of the Mayflower Compact, Elder William Brewster, the Pilgrim colonist leader and spiritual elder of the Plymouth Colony, and George Soule, through Susannah Barber Perry.

In 1809, Perry received a midshipman's warrant in the Navy and was initially assigned to USS Revenge, under the command of his elder brother. He was then assigned to USS President, where he served as an aide to Commodore John Rodgers. President was in a victorious engagement over a British vessel, HMS Little Belt, shortly before the War of 1812 was officially declared. Perry continued aboard President during the War of 1812 and was present at the engagement with HMS Belvidera. Rodgers fired the first shot of the war at Belvidera. A later shot resulted in a cannon bursting, killing several men and wounding Rodgers, Perry and others. Perry transferred to USS United States, commanded by Stephen Decatur, and saw little fighting in the war afterwards, since the ship was trapped in port at New London, Connecticut.

Following the signing of the Treaty of Ghent which ended the war, Perry served on various vessels in the Mediterranean Sea. 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 to 1820. After that cruise, Perry was sent to suppress piracy and the slave trade in the West Indies.

Perry placed in commission and commanded USS Shark, a schooner with 12 guns, from 1821 to 1825. He deployed to the West Africa Station to support the American and British joint patrols to prevent human trafficking. citation needed

In 1815, the Spanish governor in Havana deeded the island of Key West to Juan Pablo Salas of St. Augustine in Spanish Florida. After Florida was transferred to the United States, Salas sold Key West to American businessman John W. Simonton for $2,000 in 1821. Simonton lobbied Washington 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 Shark to Key West and planted the U.S. flag, physically claiming the Florida Keys as United States territory. 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 however.

From 1826 to 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, USS Concord. During this period, while in port in Russian Kronstadt, Perry was offered a commission in the Imperial Russian Navy, which he declined.

He spent 1833 through 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.

Commodore Matthew C. Perry

U.S. postage, 1953 issue

Perry had an ardent interest in and saw the need for 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 the construction of the Navy's second steam frigate USS Fulton, which he commanded after its completion. He was called "The Father of".