HMS ''Phoenix'' was a 44-gun

fifth-rate In the rating system of the Royal Navy used to categorise sailing warships, a fifth rate was the second-smallest class of warships in a hierarchical system of six " ratings" based on size and firepower. Rating The rating system in the Royal ...

ship of the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against Fr ...

. She was launched in 1759 and sunk in 1780 and saw service during the

American War of Independence The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

Launch

''Phoenix'' was launched in 1759 under Captain

Prince Edward, Duke of York and Albany Prince Edward, Duke of York and Albany, (Edward Augustus;In ''The London Gazette'', the Prince is called simply 'Prince Edward'16 November 1756 American War of Independence The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

under Captain Hyde Parker, Jr. The ship was assigned to New York and by 5 June 1776 was laying off

Sandy Hook, New Jersey Sandy Hook is a barrier spit in Middletown Township, Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States. The barrier spit, approximately in length and varying from wide, is located at the north end of the Jersey Shore. It encloses the southern ...

with a small flotilla of ships. Later that month, ''Phoenix'' captured at least three ships and disrupted an American attack on a lighthouse near Sandy Hook. In the early days of July 1776, ''Phoenix'', along with ''Rose'' and ''Greyhound'' moved toward Red Hook, Brooklyn and anchored at

Gravesend, Brooklyn Gravesend is a neighborhood in the south-central section of the New York City borough of Brooklyn, on the southwestern edge of Long Island in the U.S. state of New York. It is bounded by the Belt Parkway to the south, Bay Parkway to the west ...

. On 8 July 1776, Parker was ordered to assume command of and move upriver from New York City. She, along with and three smaller ships, launched an attack on

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

on 12 July 1776. During that attack, ''Phoenix'' and the other ships easily passed rebel defences and bombarded urban New York for two hours. This action largely confirmed Continental fears that the Royal Navy could act with relative impunity when attacking deep-water ports. ''Phoenix'' continued to harass patriot positions along the

Hudson River The Hudson River is a river that flows from north to south primarily through eastern New York. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York and flows southward through the Hudson Valley to the New York Harbor between Ne ...

till 16 August when she withdrew back to the waters off of Staten Island. Maps from that autumn show ''Phoenix'' and ''Rose'' again in the waters south of

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

. She captured 2 prizes off Cape Henry in February, 1777.

Counterfeiting

''Phoenix'' was also involved in a kind of

currency war Currency war, also known as competitive devaluations, is a condition in international affairs where countries seek to gain a trade advantage over other countries by causing the exchange rate of their currency to fall in relation to other curr ...

. During the Revolutionary War, the

Continental Congress The Continental Congress was a series of legislative bodies, with some executive function, for thirteen of Britain's colonies in North America, and the newly declared United States just before, during, and after the American Revolutionary War. ...

authorized the printing of paper currency called

continental currency Early American currency went through several stages of development during the colonial and post-Revolutionary history of the United States. John Hull was authorized by the Massachusetts legislature to make the earliest coinage of the colony (th ...

. As early as January 1776, John and George Folliott began counterfeiting Continental $30 bills on ''Phoenix''. The counterfeiting operation on ''Phoenix'' ran until at least April 1777. The counterfeit notes could be purchased for the price of the paper they were printed on. Inflation was indeed a major problem for the rebelling colonists, reaching monthly levels of 47 percent by November 1779. And the Phoenix counterfeiting contributed, at least in part, to such staggering currency problems.

Loss

''Phoenix'', under Captain Hyde Parker, sunk on the night of 4 October 1780. The loss occurred during a

major hurricane Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

that disabled Britain's entire fleet in the

West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greate ...

. The loss was memorably recorded by Lieutenant Archer in a letter of 6 November 1780: Before she sank, the crew cut the mainmast away after the storm felled it. Over the course of three days, the crew was able to land provisions and stores on the shore of

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribb ...

, a hostile territory then a possession of

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...

. Hyde Parker ordered his crew to repair the damaged cutter and then dispatched it toward

Montego Bay Montego Bay is the capital of the parish of St. James in Jamaica. The city is the fourth-largest urban area in the country by population, after Kingston, Spanish Town, and Portmore, all of which form the Greater Kingston Metropolitan Area, h ...

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of Hispa ...

. A rescue mission of three fishing boats and, later, the sloop ''Porcupine'' evacuated the survivors. ''Phoenix'' had lost 20 men when the mainmast fell. The surviving 240 men reached Montego Bay safely on 15 October.

Citations and references

Citations References *Hepper, David J. (1994) ''British Warship Losses in the Age of Sail, 1650–1859''. (Rotherfield: Jean Boudriot). {{DEFAULTSORT:Phoenix (1759) Frigates of the Royal Navy Ships built in Limehouse 1759 ships Shipwrecks in the Caribbean Sea Counterfeiters Maritime incidents in 1780