Matthew Calbraith Perry was an American naval officer who served as the commander of the East India Squadron from November 1852 to September 1854. He took part in several battles and was instrumental in Japan ending its isolationist policies by signing the Convention of Kanagawa in 1854. A native of Rhode Island, Perry joined the US Navy as a midshipman on USS Revenge. During his over four-decade-long service, he took part in Little Belt Affair War, Second Barbary War, Suppression of the Slave Trade, and the Mexican–American War and gradually rose through the ranks to become a commodore. He visited Japan twice, in 1853 and 1854, and compelled the Japanese Empire to sign trade and diplomatic treaties with the west, which effectively ended its more than two-century-long isolation. Keen on providing education to naval officers, he helped in the creation of the curriculum at the United States Naval Academy. When steam engine ships were introduced, he realised the importance of modernizing the US Navy and has come to be regarded as the “Father of the Steam Navy” in US. Commodore Perry’s flag was taken from Annapolis to Tokyo to showcase at surrender ceremonies which officially concluded World War II.