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 U.S. Naval Academy with the class of 1856. During the rest of that decade Midshipman Perkins served on at sea on the sloop of warCyane, the storeship Release and the steamerSumpter. He attained the ranks of Master in 1859 and Lieutenant in February 1861, on the eve of the Civil War. Perkins spent the conflict's first several months in the Sumpter, operating on anti-slavery patrols. In early 1862 he was assigned as Executive Officer to the West Gulf Blockading Squadron Unadilla-class gunboat USS Cayuga under its commanding officer Lieutenant N.B. Harrison in which he performed distinguished service during the 1862 campaigns to capture New Orleans and the lower Mississippi River. During Admiral Farragut's assault up-river towards New Orleans April 24–25, the Cayuga, with Lt. Perkins at the wheel through the storm of shot and shell, was the first warship to pass forts Jackson and St. Phillip. The Cayuga found itself alone north of the forts and being assailed by eleven Confederate vessels including the sloop rigged steamer C.S.S. Gov. Moore which the Cayuga sank, and the ram C.S.S. Manassas whose attack narrowly missed the Cayuga's stern. Once the fleet lay at anchor in the river off New Orleans, Lt. Perkins accompanied Capt. Theodorus Bailey, U.S.N., in the first boat sent ashore, to demand the surrender of the city. and architect Henry Bacon as erected at the New Hampshire State House in Concord in 1902. He was next executive officer of the steam sloopPensacola, 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 monitorChickasaw. 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 ironcladTennessee. 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 Stationflagship 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.
