HMS Phoenix was a 6-gun steam paddle vessel of the Royal Navy, built in a dry dock at Chatham in 1832.

[3] In April 1844 Phoenix was converted to a screw sloop by Curling & Young's at Limehouse to a design by Oliver Lang.

She received a John Penn & Son 260-nominal horsepower two-cylinder vertical single-expansion steam engine driving a screw propeller.

The conversion was finished by February 1845, and the 489 indicated horsepower (365 kW) developed by her new engine, combined with the more efficient screw propulsion, gave her a speed under steam of about 8.8 knots (16.3 km/h).

A further benefit of screw propulsion was the loss of the large paddle boxes, which allowed more of her deck to be used for guns; a further four carronades were fitted, making her a 10-gun ship.

Inglefield carried the news of the discovery of the Northwest Passage by Robert McClure back to England in October 1853.