Winslow Reef is mentioned by Robert Louis Stevenson, who sailed over an area thought to be Winslow Reef in late 1889, but did not find it.[1]
For long it had been thought that a Perry Winslow (1815-1890), Capt. of the Nantucket whaler Phoenix, was its discoverer in 1851 and that the name of his ship also became attached to the entire group of islands.[2] Entry November 9, 1840, of the log of whaler “Gideon Howland” of New Bedford, Capt. Michael Baker (1802-1860)], however, might suffice as evidence to an even earlier sighting, an entire decade earlier: "Monday 9th, fine weather light trades all hands severely engaged doing nothing. At 11 AM passed over a reef apparently not more than ... 5 or 6 fathoms of water on it in Lat 1° 36 S Longitude 175° 24 W Lat Meridian..." [citation needed]
The etymology behind the toponym Phoenix Islands is likely more indebted to the British whaler Phœnix of London, Capt. John Palmer, than it is to Perry Winslow's ship with the same name, because on February 23, 1824, the former captain had spotted a low and sandy island covered with “tropical birds, men of war hawks and other sea fowl in latitude 3° 39′ South and Longitude 170° 30′ West." This was no doubt modern Rawaki. It was named “Phœnix Island” that day, after the whale ship. The Phœnix was merely one of many ships owned by the firm Daniel Bennett & Son, the largest whaling merchant of its day.[3]
^Stevenson, Robert Louis (August 1998) [letter: 2 December 1889]. "Chapter 13, Part V". Letters of Robert Louis Stevenson (e-book). Vol. 2. Seattle, Washington, USA.: The World Wide SchoolTM. Archived from the original on 8 March 2007. Retrieved 18 July 2006. We had one particularity: coming down on Winslow Reef, p. d. (position doubtful): two positions in the directory, a third (if you cared to count that) on the chart; heavy sea running, and the night due. The boats were cleared, bread put on board, and we made up our packets for a boat voyage of four or five hundred miles, and turned in, expectant of a crash. Needless to say, it did not come, and no doubt we were far to leeward.
^Denger, Otto; Gillaspy, Edwin (August 15, 1955). Atoll Research Bulletin, Canton Island, South Pacific(PDF). Vol. 41. Washington DC: Pacific Science Board, National Academy of Sciences-National Research Council. p. 6. Archived from the original(PDF) on 2006-09-13. Retrieved 2008-12-17. The whaler 'Phoenix' discovered Winslow Reef, northwest of Canton, in 1851, and the name of this vessel became attached to the entire group of islands.
^Dalton, William (1990). The Dalton Journal: Two Whaling Voyages To The South Seas 1823-1829 (edited by Niel Gunson). Canberra: National Library of Australia. ISBN9780642105059.
