Phoenix (1794)

Lore & Background

Phoenix was constructed under the direction of James George Shields, a British mariner in the employ of the Russian Navy, using mainly local materials. The three-masted ship was 90 feet long with a burthen of between 180 and 240 tons (bm), mounting 22–24 light cannons. It was named after the British Phoenix, a trading vessel involved in the maritime fur trade, which itself was the namesake of Phoenix Bay on Afognak Island.

Reader's Guide

The loss of Phoenix and its large load of colonist passengers greatly slowed the tempo of the Russian colonization of the Americas, effectively ending RAC Governor Baranov's plan to establish a colony south of Sitka, Alaska on either Prince of Wales Island or in Haida Gwaii. The promyshlenniki passengers had been essential to this plan. The loss of Bishop Joasaph and his retinue was a major blow for the Orthodox Church in America; it took 40 years for the Church to assign a new bishop to the American diocese. The loss of Captain Shields was also a major setback, as he was one of the most experienced captains and shipbuilders working in Russian America. The catastrophe thus had profound demographic, economic, and ecclesiastical consequences for the Russian presence in the New World.

Did You Know?

• Phoenix was the first ship built in Russian America, launched in the summer of 1794.
• The ship was named after a British trading vessel called Phoenix, which gave its name to Phoenix Bay on Afognak Island.
• The total financial loss from the sinking was 622,328 rubles, over twice the combined capital of the Kodiak and Unalaska RAC Departments.
• It took 40 years for the Orthodox Church to assign a new bishop to the American diocese after Bishop Joasaph's death.