The green-hulled wooden barque Phoenician was built in 1847 by Walter Hood & Co. of Aberdeen. She measured 147' in length and 27' in beam. Her tonnages where gross 521, net 478 with a deadweight of 780. She was built for Aberdeen White Star Line and registered in Aberdeen. The Master was Captain H. Sproat, who was one of the best known passage makers of the day. In 1850 she was sold to Thompson G. Thompson and remained with that company until 1862 when she was sold to Andrews and her port of registry then became Belfast.

She is reported to have been the first ship to land Australian gold in the British Isles. She arrived off Plymouth on 3rd February, 1852, after a passage of 83 days from Sydney which was considered a record. On that voyage she had brought 74 packages of gold dust, valued at #81.00. Phoenician was wrecked in 1864 whilst on a voyage bound for China.