Her initial commission was in the Parliamentary Naval Force during the English Civil War.

[1] Phoenix was the third vessel in the English Navy to bear that name, since it was first used for a 20-gun galleass, purchased in 1545, rebuilt in 1558 and sold in 1573, and then re-used for another 20-gun ship built in 1613 which lasted until 1624.

[2] The Phoenix was one of four new frigates ordered by Parliament and built under the 1647 Programme (the others were the Dragon, Elizabeth and Tiger).

She was built at Woolwich Dockyard on the River Thames under the guidance of Master Shipwright Peter Pett II, and was launched in 1647.

[4] She was commissioned into the Parliamentary Naval Force under the command of Captain Owen Cox.

Later in 1650 she was under Captain John Wadsworth as Flagship for Robert Blake in the Irish Sea followed by the Isle of Scilly in June 1651 followed by the Channel Islands in October.

She was retaken on 26 November 1652 by an attack by English small boats at Leghorn.