AGY-416 | " Phoenix " [Hulk]

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The ship "Phoenix", of 589 tons, was damaged on 6 August 1824, when she struck the Sow & Pigs rocks in Sydney Harbour. She was condemned by the Vice - Admiralty Court to be broken up and her stores were to be sold, but was in stead bought by the government for one thousand pounds, and fitted up in May 1825 as a prison hulk. (1) The hulk was established to house the overflow from the Sydney Gaol. Its purpose was to temporarily house prisoners detained for trial and those under sentence of transportation to the penal settlements.. (2) The hulk, which had the capacity to house about two hundred prisoners, ceased to be used as a prison in 1838. (3) FOOTNOTES: (1) Archives Authority of NSW, "The Concise Guide", Corrective Services, p.73 (2) Historical Records of Australia, Series 1, Vol. 12, p.658 (3) Archives Authority of NSW, "The Concise Guide" , Corrective Services, p.73 REFERENCES: (1) Historical Records of Australia, Series I - IV. Canberra, Library Committees of the Commonwealth Parliament, 1919 (2) Archives Authority of NSW, "The Concise Guide" 2nd Edition, Sydney, The Authority, 1992