HMS Phoenix

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Fifteen vessels of the Royal Navy have been named HMS Phoenix, after the legendary phoenix bird.

• The first Phoenix was a 20-gun ship purchased in 1546, rebuilt 1558, and sold 1573.
• The second Phoenix was a 20-gun ship of 246 tons, launched at Chatham 27 February 1613 and in the records until 1624.
• The third Phoenix was a 38-gun ship launched in 1647, in Dutch hands for several months of 1652, and wrecked in 1664.
• The fourth Phoenix was a Dutch ship captured in 1665 and sunk as a blockship in 1667.
• The fifth Phoenix was a 42-gun fifth-rate launched in 1671. On 1 June 1684, King Charles II of England appointed John Tyrrell to command the Phoenix. On 19 September 1685, it caught and sank a "Zanganian" pirate ship in an action notable for the boarding and survival of then Lieutenant John Byng. It was burnt in 1692 to prevent capture.
• The sixth Phoenix was a bomb vessel purchased in 1692 and sold 1698.
• The seventh Phoenix was an 8-gun fire ship built in 1694, rebuilt in 1709 as a 24-gun sixth-rate, hulked 1742, and sold 1744.
• The eighth Phoenix was a 24-gun sixth-rate launched in 1743, used as a hospital hulk after 1755, and sold 1762.
• The ninth Phoenix was a 44-gun fifth-rate launched in 1759 and lost in a hurricane off Cuba in 1780.
• The tenth Phoenix was a 36-gun fifth-rate launched 1783 and wrecked in 1816.
• The eleventh Phoenix was a wooden paddle sloop launched in 1832, converted to screw propulsion in 1845, and sold 1864.
• The twelfth Phoenix was a composite screw sloop launched in 1879 and wrecked 1882.
• The thirteenth Phoenix was a sloop launched in 1895 and capsized 1906 in a typhoon at Hong Kong.
• The fourteenth Phoenix was a destroyer launched in 1911 and sunk 1918 by an Austrian submarine.
• The fifteenth Phoenix was a submarine launched 1929 and sunk by an Italian torpedo boat in 1940.