Born in Contoocookville, New Hampshire in the northern part of Hopkinton to the Honorable Hamilton Eliot Perkins, George was appointed as Acting Midshipman in October 1851 and graduated from the United States. Naval Academy with the class of 1856.
During the rest of that decade Midshipman Perkins served on at sea on the sloop of war Cyane, the storeship Release and the steamer Sumpter. Perkins spent the conflict"s first several months in the Sumpter, operating on anti-slavery patrols. In late 1861 he became Commanding Officer of the new gunboat Cayuga, in which he performed distinguished service during the 1862 campaigns to capture New Orleans and the lower Mississippi River.
He was next Executive Officer of the steam sloop Pensacola, receiving promotion to Lieutenant Commander at the end of 1862.
His service on the Mississippi and in the Gulf of Mexico continued in 1863-1865, including command of gunboats New London and Sciota, and the monitor Chickasaw. While in the latter ship, his aggressive and effective conduct during the August 1864 Battle of Mobile Bay was a major factor in the capture of the Confederate ironclad Tennessee.
In the years immediately following the Civil War Lieutenant Commander Perkins was Superintendent of Iron-Clads at New Orleans, Executive Officer of the steam sloop Lackawanna in the North Pacific, and had ordnance duty at the Boston Navy Yard. Reaching the rank of Commander in early 1871, he spent the next decade as Commanding Officer of the storeship Relief and gunboat Ashuelot and had further shore duty at Boston.
Perkins was promoted to Captain in 1882 and commanded the Pacific Station flagship United States Ship Hartford during the mid-1880s.
Captain Perkins" subsequent active service was limited to court-martial duty. He was transferred to the Retired List in October 1891, but in 1896 received a Congressionally authorized promotion to the retired rank of Commodore in recognition of his gallantry and skill during the Battle of Mobile Bay three decades earlier. Commodore Perkins died at Boston on 28 October 1899.
The commodore married a daughter of William Fletcher Weld, a multimillionaire from Boston"s famous Weld Their daughter, Isabel Weld Perkins, married Larz Anderson, a wealthy businessman who served as Ambassador to Japan under William Howard Taft.
Among the homes they maintained was Perkins Manor, the commodore"s birthplace. The Andersons" legacy to the public includes Anderson House, Anderson Memorial Bridge, Larz Anderson Auto Museum, Larz Anderson Bonsai Collection and Larz Anderson Park.
The United States. Navy has named three destroyers in honor of George H. Perkins, including:
United States Ship Perkins Destroyer # 26, later Doctor of Divinity-26 of 1910-1935
United States Ship Perkins (Doctor of Divinity-377) of 1936-1943
United States Ship Perkins (Doctor of Divinity-877, later Deutsche Demokratische Republik-877 and Doctor of Divinity-877) of 1945-1973.
