Perry, Oliver Hazard (1785–1819)

US naval officer. During the Anglo-American War 1812–14 he played a decisive role in securing American control of Lake Erie. Ordered there in 1813, he was responsible for the decisive victory over the British at the Battle of Put-in-Bay and participated in the Battle of the Thames.

Perry, born in South Kingston, Rhode Island, began his naval career 1799 as a midshipman and saw action in the Tripolitan War. He died of fever while on a cruise to South America.