[1] James George Shields, a British mariner in the employ of the Russian Navy, directed her construction, using mainly local materials.
[2] 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.
In addition to the ship itself, 103 people died, including 92 promyshlenniki, Captain James Shields, Bishop Joasaph Bolotov, 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.
[1] The loss of Phoenix and its large load of colonist passengers greatly slowed the tempo of the Russian colonization of the Americas, effectively ending RAC Governor Baranov's plan to establish a colony south of Sitka, Alaska on either Prince of Wales Island or in Haida Gwaii.