Join The Forces >> Browse Articles >> History of The Royal Navy
HMS Dauntless
HMS Dauntless
Former WO1(GSM) Peter Padley MBE
There have been 5 ships and one shore establishment named HMS Dauntless.
The first vessel to bear the name of Dauntless was an 18 gun Combatant Class Sloop built at the William Gibson Shipyard in Hull. She was launched in 1804 and commissioned in March 1805. A shallow draught vessel Dauntless was ordered to sail up the Vistula River on 19th May 1807 to resupply the Prussian Army with over 500 barrels of gunpowder. The ship ran aground and was surrendered to the French after having been bombarded by artillery fire for over an hour.
The second HMS Dauntless was a Cormorant Class Ship-Sloop built at Deptford Dockyard. Launched in December 1808 and commissioned in July 1809 Dauntless was paid off at the end of the Napoleonic Wars but was recommissioned in late 1818. Before being paid off in October 1823 HMS Dauntless visited China, Australia, New Zealand and South America. She was sold for breaking in 1825.
Built at Portsmouth Dockyard the third vessel to be named Dauntless was launched in January 1847 and commissioned in August 1850. Originally ordered as a paddle ship she was redesigned and launched as a wooden hulled steam screw frigate weighing 2,457 tons. Dauntless served on the North American and West Indies Station where 83 of her crew died of yellow fever en-route to, and in hospital, on arrival at Barbados. At the start of the Crimean War Dauntless was transferred to the Black Sea Fleet where she took part in the bombardment of Sevastopol and Kinburn as well as providing officers and men for the Naval Brigade. Returned to UK to pay off in 1857 Dauntless was recommissioned two years later as the Coastguard base ship at Southampton and seven years later relocated to the Humber in the same role. Reclassified as a tender in 1870 she continued to serve on the Humber until being laid up at Devonport in 1878 and sold for breaking in May 1885.
Launched in April 1917 and commissioned in November 1918 the fourth HMS Dauntless, weighing 4,650 tons and capable of 30 knots, was a Danae Light Class Cruiser built at Palmers Shipbuilding and Iron Company. With WWI at an end Dauntless deployed to the Baltic where she operated against the Bolsheviks in Russia. Dauntless was a member of the Empire Cruise of 1923/24 and after a tour in the Mediterranean was decommissioned. Recommissioned in 1928 she deployed to the America and West Indies Station where she was badly damaged after running aground off Halifax, Nova Scotia. She was refloated and repaired before being reduced to the reserve fleet in late 1929. Taken back into service in 1930 she returned to the America and West Indies Station for a few years before returning to UK in 1935 and paid off into the reserve fleet – only to be recommissioned at the start of WWII and sent to the 9th Cruiser Squadron, South Atlantic Command. Transferred to the China Station in December 1939 she saw service in the Indian Ocean and Dutch East Indies. Dauntless returned to UK for refitting in February 1942 before deploying to the Eastern Fleet. Returning to UK in 1943 she was used as a training ship before transfer to the reserve fleet in February 1945. Sold for scrap she was broken up in April 1946.
The fifth HMS Dauntless was a shore establishment located at Burghfield, near Reading, Berkshire. It was used as the Women’s Royal Naval Service Training Establishment for the period 1947 until 1981.
The sixth HMS Dauntless, to be known as ‘Dauntless’ until commissioning, is a Type 45 Air Defence Destroyer. The second of the new air defence destroyers she was launched on 23rd January 2007 by Lady Burnell-Nugent, the wife of Admiral Sir James Burnell-Nugent, who was Commander-in-Chief Fleet at the time of her launch.
Dauntless arrived at HMNB Portsmouth on 2nd December 2009 after extensive sea trials where power, propulsion, weapon and communication systems were tested. The vessel was handed over by her builders, BAE Systems, to the Deputy Commander-in-Chief Fleet, Vice Admiral Richard Ibbotson, on behalf of the Royal Navy on 3rd December 2009.
It is expected that Dauntless will be commissioned in the summer of 2010.
More Type 45: HMS Daring
Aircraft Carriers
HMS Invincible
HMS Illustrious
HMS Ark Royal
The Albion Class Assault Ship
HMS Albion
HMS Ocean is in a class of its own – she is an Amphibious assault ship or Helicopter carrier, and designed to support amphibious landing operations and to support the staff of Commander UK Amphibious Force and Commander UK Landing Force. She is currently the largest ship in the Royal Navy.
Frigates
Frigates Of The Royal Navy Type 22
Frigates Of The Royal Navy Type 23
Destroyers
Destroyers of The Royal Navy Type 42
Back to: Destoyers of The Royal Navy Type 45
Royal Navy HM Submarines
Royal Navy Fleet Submarines
HMS Tireless, HMS Triumph, HMS Trafalgar, HMS Talent, HMS Torbay
Royal Navy Swiftsure Class SSN
Naval Air Squadrons
More Sections:RAF Squadrons and Regiments
Next section:The Royal Marines
UK Armed Forces Pay Rates for all Services: April 2009 – April 2010
