''Phoenix'' (also spelled ''Feniks'') was the first ship built in

Russian America Russian America (russian: Русская Америка, Russkaya Amerika) was the name for the Russian Empire's colonial possessions in North America from 1799 to 1867. It consisted mostly of present-day Alaska in the United States, but a ...

(roughly equivalent to today's

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., ...

), for the

Shelikhov-Golikov Company The Shelikhov-Golikov Company (SGC) was a Russian fur trading venture, founded by Irkutsk entrepreneurs Grigory Shelikhov and Ivan Larionovich Golikov in 1783. Formed in Eastern Siberia during the 1780s along with several competing companies, th ...

, a precursor of the

Russian–American Company The Russian-American Company Under the High Patronage of His Imperial Majesty (russian: Под высочайшим Его Императорского Величества покровительством Российская-Американс� ...

(RAC). James George Shields, a British mariner in the employ of the Russian Navy, directed her construction, using mainly local materials. The ship was launched at Voskresenskaia on

Resurrection Bay Resurrection Bay, also known as Blying Sound, and Harding Gateway in its outer reaches, is a fjord on the Kenai Peninsula of Alaska, United States. Its main settlement is Seward, located at the head of the bay. The bay received its name from Al ...

in the summer of 1794. The ship was three-masted, 90 feet long, with a burthen of between 180 and 240 tons ( bm) (sources differ), and mounting 22–24 light cannons. It was by far the largest and most important vessel of any Russian American fur trading company of the time. The ship was named after the British ''Phoenix'', a trading vessel involved in the

maritime fur trade The maritime fur trade was a ship-based fur trade system that focused on acquiring furs of sea otters and other animals from the indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast and natives of Alaska. The furs were mostly sold in China in ex ...

, which in turn was the namesake of Phoenix Bay on

Afognak Island Afognak (Alutiiq: ''Agw’aneq''; russian: Афогнак) is an island in the Kodiak Archipelago north of Kodiak Island in the U.S. state of Alaska. It is long from east to west and wide from north to south and has a land area of , making ...

. ''Phoenix'' was lost at sea in late 1799, last seen on 24 August 1799 when departing

Okhotsk Okhotsk ( rus, Охотск, p=ɐˈxotsk) is an types of inhabited localities in Russia, urban locality (a urban-type settlement, work settlement) and the administrative center of Okhotsky District of Khabarovsk Krai, Russia, located at the mou ...

for

Kodiak Island Kodiak Island (Alutiiq: ''Qikertaq''), is a large island on the south coast of the U.S. state of Alaska, separated from the Alaska mainland by the Shelikof Strait. The largest island in the Kodiak Archipelago, Kodiak Island is the second larges ...

. Wreckage washed up on shores from

Unalaska Island Unalaska ( ale, Nawan-Alaxsxa, russian: Уналашка) is a volcanic island in the Fox Islands group of the Aleutian Islands in the US state of Alaska located at . The island has a land area of . It measures long and wide. The city of Unala ...

to the

Alexander Archipelago The Alexander Archipelago (russian: Архипелаг Александра) is a long archipelago (group of islands) in North America lying off the southeastern coast of Alaska. It contains about 1,100 islands, the tops of submerged coastal m ...

. It was the greatest marine catastrophe in the history of Russian America. In addition to the ship itself, 103 people died, including 92 ''

promyshlenniki The ''promyshlenniki'' (russian: промышленники, singular form: russian: промышленник, translit=promyshlennik), were Russian and indigenous Siberian artel- or self-employed workers drawn largely from the state serf and ...

'', Captain James Shields, Bishop

Joasaph Bolotov Bishop Joasaph (secular name Ivan Ilyich Bolotov, russian: Иоанн Ильич Болотов; 22 January 1761 – May 1799) was a Russian Orthodox missionary, bishop of Kodiak, vicar of Irkutsk diocese. He came to Alaska as the leader of a group ...

, head of the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission in Alaska, along with cargo worth 569,328 rubles. The total financial loss was 622,328 rubles, over twice the combined capital of the Kodiak and Unalaska RAC Departments. The loss of ''Phoenix'' and its large load of colonist passengers greatly slowed the tempo of the

Russian colonization of the Americas The Russian colonization of North America covers the period from 1732 to 1867, when the Russian Empire laid claim to northern Pacific Coast territories in the Americas. Russian colonial possessions in the Americas are collectively known as Russi ...

, effectively ending RAC Governor Baranov's plan to establish a colony south of

Sitka, Alaska russian: Ситка , native_name_lang = tli , settlement_type = Consolidated city-borough , image_skyline = File:Sitka 84 Elev 135.jpg , image_caption = Downtown Sitka in 1984 , image_size ...

on either Prince of Wales Island or in

Haida Gwaii Haida Gwaii (; hai, X̱aaydag̱a Gwaay.yaay / , literally "Islands of the Haida people") is an archipelago located between off the northern Pacific coast of Canada. The islands are separated from the mainland to the east by the shallow Hecat ...

. The ''promyshlenniki'' passengers had been essential to this plan. In addition, 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.

References

External links

Baranov Quarterly 1, No. 1 (2005), Kodiak Historical Society.
1794 ships Age of Sail merchant ships Fur trade Maritime incidents in 1799 Cargo ships of Russia Russian America Russian-American Company Ships built in Alaska Ships lost with all hands Shipwrecks Shipwrecks of the Alaska coast {{Merchantship-stub

See also

References

External links