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WATCH HILL, RI -- Divers in Connecticut have announced they have found one of the first ships that was under the command of 1812 War hero Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry. 

Long before Commodore Perry became famous from his bravery in the Battle of Lake Erie at Put-in Bay, he was a U.S. Navy Captain on the Atlantic and his last command was that of a ship called the USS Revenge.  But in 1811, the Revenge hit some shoals and sank, and Perry soon left the Navy.  

The divers, Charles Buffam, and Craig Harger say they have discovered the early 19th century wreck of the Revenge in about 15 feet of water off of Watch Hill Beach near the Connecticut/ Rhode Island border.  The Revenge was a 14-gun schooner and sank off the reef, triggering a courtmartial of Perry who eventually was exonerated. The divers say that had the Revenge not been lost, Perry would have likely stayed with the Atlantic Fleet and would not have taken part in the pivotal battle of Lake Erie in 1813, which turned the course of the war with England leading to the U.S. victory.