Phoenix (1821 whaler)

History
United States
NamePhoenix
Owner
  • T&P Macy (1844)
  • Gardner & McCeave (1853)
BuilderRochester, MA
Launched1821
FateWrecked 12 October 1858
General characteristics
Tons burthen323[1] (bm)

Phoenix, or Phenix, was an American wooden whaler, launched in 1821. She plied the Pacific Ocean from her homeport of Nantucket, Massachusetts. She made ten complete voyages between 1821 and her loss, on her 11th voyage, in 1858.

Phoenix and her captain, Perry Winslow, discovered Winslow Reef, northwest of Canton, in 1851. The entire group of Phoenix Islands in the South Pacific are named after a ship, which was active in the area in the 1820s, which may be this ship.[2]

Phoenix was in the Galapagos in 1835 and 1836. On 10 January 1836 the crew was ashore and left graffiti carved into rocks there. While in the Galapagos islands the crew also gathered tortoises to eat, perhaps as many as 140.[3]