COMMODORE PERRY'S FLAG - Dont Give Up The Ship

One of the better known historical Navy flags, this banner was flown by Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry at the legendary Battle of Lake Erie.  The inspiring slogan comes from the last words of Captain James Lawrence, who spoke them as he lay dying on his ship in battle three months before.  Commodore Perry’s flagship, the USS Lawrence, bore the Captains name and waved the flag with his words.  Though the Lawrence was claimed in the fight, Commodore Perry brought this banner with him as he left the sinking ship, and raised it again on the USS Niagara.  Under it, and against the odds, he defeated the entire British squadron, which had him outgunned.

The Battle Flag

"Don't give up the ship", a phrase repeated by Captain James Lawrence during his dying days after being wounded by enemy fire aboard the Chesapeake on June 1, 1813, became the battle cry of Oliver Hazard Perry. Perry learned of Lawrence's demise upon arrival at Presque Isle and commanded that Lawrence would be honored with the name of a brig, which would simply be called Lawrence. A battle flag would also be needed, and the words of Perry's good friend Lawrence would be just the battle cry suited for the coming days. A woman named Margaret Forster Steuart, resident of Erie Pennsylvania, wife of Army Captain Thomas Steuart and sister to Thomas Forster, both friends of Perry's, Forster being commander of the Erie Light Infantry that had guarded the fleet, was enlisted to make the battle flag. With the help of her two daughters, three nieces, and a cousin, she had the flag ready for Perry within just a few days.^[28] As of July 2009, Perry's flag, Steuart's work, and Lawrence's dying words can still be seen today, as the flag has been placed on display in Bancroft Hall at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis.