HMS Phoenix (1759) explained

HMS Phoenix was a 44-gun[1] [2] fifth-rate ship of the Royal Navy. She was launched in 1759 and sunk in 1780 and saw service during the American War of Independence.

Launch

Phoenix was launched in 1759 under Captain Prince Edward, Duke of York and Albany[3]

Activities in North America

Naval operations

Phoenix saw service during the American War of Independence under Captain Hyde Parker, Jr. The ship was assigned to New York and by 5 June 1776 was laying off Sandy Hook, New Jersey with a small flotilla of ships.[4] 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. 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 on 12 July 1776. During that attack, Phoenix and the other ships easily passed rebel defences and bombarded urban New York for two hours.[5] 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 till 16 August when she withdrew back to the waters off of Staten Island.[6] Maps from that autumn show Phoenix and Rose again in the waters south of Manhattan.[7] On 9 October, 1776 she was in action on the Hudson River, with and, forced her way upstream, whilst engaging, on either side, the two forts of Washington and Lee.[8] [9] The next day she,, and captured the abandoned Connecticut Navy galley "Crane" in the Hudson River.[10] On 7 January, 1778 she captured French brig Gineveve off Cape Henry.[10] On 10 January, 1778 she captured and destroyed merchant brig Polly off Cape Henry.[10] On 17 January, 1778 she captured merchant sloop Sally off Cape Henry.[10] She captured 2 prizes off Cape Henry in February, 1777. One was the schooner Betsy on 3 February.[11] [12] On 19 February, 1778 she captured sloop Sally 280 Leagues off Martha's Vineyard.[10]

Counterfeiting

Phoenix was also involved in a kind of currency war. During the Revolutionary War, the Continental Congress authorized the printing of paper currency called continental currency. As early as January 1776, John and George Folliott began counterfeiting Continental $30 bills on Phoenix.[13] The counterfeiting operation on Phoenix ran until at least April 1777.[14] 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.[15] And the Phoenix counterfeiting contributed, at least in part, to such staggering currency problems.[16]

Loss

Phoenix, under Captain Hyde Parker, sunk on the night of 4 October 1780.[17] [18] The loss occurred during a major hurricane that disabled Britain's entire fleet in the West Indies. 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, a hostile territory then a possession of Spain. Hyde Parker ordered his crew to repair the damaged cutter and then dispatched it toward Montego Bay in Jamaica. 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.[19]

References

Notes and References

  1. Book: Chernow, Ron. Ron Chernow. Washington: A Life. 2011. Penguin Books. 978-0143119968. 238. Washington: A Life.
  2. Book: Naval Documents of The American Revolution Vol. 5 Part 5. 1970. U.S. Government Printing Office. 1043.
  3. Book: Haydn . Joseph . Book of Dignities; containing Rolls of the Official Personages of the British Empire . 1851 . Longman, Brown, Greene, and Longmans . London . 285.
  4. Book: Morgan . William . Naval Documents of the American Revolution: Volume 5 . 1970 . US Government Printing Office . Washington, DC . 212–213, 228, 383, 665, 895 .
  5. Book: Fischer, David. David Hackett Fischer. Washington's Crossing. 2004. Oxford. 9780195181593. 83–84. Washington's Crossing (book).
  6. Book: Hannings . Bud . Chronology of the American Revolution : military and political actions day by day . 2008 . McFarland & Co . 9780786429486 . 122, 124.
  7. Web site: (cartographic) A plan of New York Island, with part of Long Island, Staten Island & east New Jersey : with a particular description of the engagement on the woody heights of Long Island, between Flatbush and Brooklyn, on the 27th of August 1776 between His Majesty's forces commanded by General Howe and the Americans under Major General Putnam, shewing also the landing of the British Army on New-York Island, and the taking of the city of New-York &c. on the 15th of September following, with the subsequent disposition of both the armies, (1776-10-19) . Digital Collections, The New York Public Library . 7 September 2018 . The New York Public Library, Astor, Lennox, and Tilden Foundation.
  8. Book: Winfield . Rif . British Warships in the Age of Sail 1714–1792: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates . 2007 . Seaforth Publishing . Barnsley, England . 978-1-84415-700-6.
  9. Clowes (Vol.III) p. 386
  10. Web site: Naval Documents of The American Revolution Volume 11 AMERICAN THEATRE: Jan. 1, 1778–Mar. 31, 1778 EUROPEAN THEATRE: Jan. 1, 1778–Mar. 31, 1778 . U.S. Government printing office via Imbiblio . 27 January 2024.
  11. Web site: Naval Documents of The American Revolution Volume 11 AMERICAN THEATRE: Jan. 1, 1778–Mar. 31, 1778 EUROPEAN THEATRE: Jan. 1, 1778–Mar. 31, 1778 . U.S. Government printing office via Imbiblio . 6 September 2023.
  12. Web site: The Maritime War: The Revolutionary War in Princess Anne County . vbgov.com . 20 September 2021.
  13. Newman . E.P. . The successful British counterfeiting of American paper money during the American Revolution . British Numismatic Journal . 1958 . 29 . 179 . 7 September 2018 . 7 September 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180907110159/http://infostation1.net/books/Zarlenga,%20LOST%20SCIENCE%20OF%20MONEY/CHAPTER%2014%20-%20US%20COLONIAL%20MONEYS/SOURCES/ERIC%20NEWMAN%20-%20ARTICLE%20ON%20COUNTERFEITING%20OF%20CONTINENTAL/article%20about%20counterfeiting%20continentals%20by%20british.pdf . dead .
  14. Rhodes . Karl . The Counterfeiting Weapon . Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond Region Focus . 2012 . 16 . 1 . 34 . 7 September 2018.
  15. Web site: Hanke . Steve . The Printing Press . Forbes . 9 August 2018.
  16. Book: The counterfeiting of U.S. currency abroad : hearing before the Subcommittee on General Oversight and Investigations of the Committee on Banking and Financial Services, House of Representatives, One Hundred Fourth Congress, second session, February 27, 1996. . 1996 . U.S. G.P.O. . Washington . 0160535395 . 6–7.
  17. Web site: The Shipwreck of the Phoenix at Night on the Coast of Cuba, 4 October 1780 926827 . National Trust Collections . 17 August 2018 . en.
  18. Bentley . Richard . Weather in War-Time . Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society . 16 January 1907 . 33 . 142 . 136 . 10.1002/qj.49703314202 . 1907QJRMS..33...80B .
  19. Book: Clarke . James Stanier . McArthur . John . The Naval Chronicle: Containing a General and Biographical History of the Royal Navy of the United Kingdom with a Variety of Original Papers on Nautical Subjects . First published 1801 . 2010 . 5 . 293 . 10.1017/CBO9780511731570 . 9780511731570 .

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