HMS Dauntless (D33)

HMS ''Dauntless'' is the second ship of the Type 45 or ''Daring''-class air-defence destroyers built for the British Royal Navy. She was launched at Govan in January 2007, was handed over to the Royal Navy on 3 December 2009 and was formally commissioned on 3 June 2010.

Construction

''Dauntless''s construction began at the BAE Systems Naval Ships yard at Govan in August 2004 on the River Clyde. She was launched on 23 January 2007 at 3.25 pm by Lady Burnell-Nugent, wife of Admiral Sir James Burnell-Nugent, the then-Commander-in-Chief Fleet. ''Dauntless'' is the adopted warship of Newcastle-upon-Tyne. Because her modules were put together outside at BAE Govan, it was possible to complete more of her structure than her sister ship, ''Daring'', which was launched from the covered facility at Scotstoun the previous year.

Sea trials

Upon completing her fitting out stage, HMS ''Dauntless'' sailed from the Clyde for the first time on 14 November 2008 to conduct sea trials, testing power and propulsion, weapons and communications systems. Although not yet transferred to the Royal Navy, some of her future crew sailed with her. ''Dauntless'' arrived at HMNB Portsmouth for the first time on 2 December 2009, and was formally handed over to the Ministry of Defence by her builders on 3 December 2009. During her sea trials ''Dauntless'' made her inaugural visit to her affiliated city of Newcastle upon Tyne in May 2010.

Operational history

''Dauntless'' was commissioned on 3 June 2010 in the presence of her sponsor. The MoD confirmed on 1 October 2010 that she had completed the first Sea Viper firing on a Hebridean firing range earlier in the week, and the ship was accepted into service on 16 November the same year.

In May 2011, ''Dauntless'' took part in Exercise Saxon Warrior in the Western Approaches, culminating in a so-called 'Thursday War'.

In June 2011, ''Dauntless'' sailed across the Atlantic Ocean to Norfolk, Virginia, to take part in the FRUKUS war game exercises between Russia, France, the United States and the United Kingdom. En route in the Atlantic she rendezvoused and conducted manoeuvres with the , which was also heading for the FRUKUS exercises, conducting cross helicopter exercises which saw ''Dauntless'' two Lynx helicopters land on the ''Admiral Chabanenko''. The deployment was the first time that two Lynxs had been deployed aboard a Type 45 destroyer.

In September 2011, ''Dauntless'' was the first of the Type 45 destroyers to visit London. She sailed up the Thames and berthed opposite London City Airport for the Defence and Security Equipment International event.
On 25 November 2011, HMS ''Dauntless'' hosted Abdullah Gül, President of the Republic of Turkey.

In January 2012, it was announced that ''Dauntless'' would deploy to the South Atlantic to replace which was stationed around the Falkland Islands. The deployment was condemned by the government of Argentina, which claimed that the deployment represented a "militarization of the South Atlantic", despite the replacement representing only a modest increase in fighting capacity.

Between 2011 and 2012 she was commanded by Captain William Warrender.

In 2015, ''Dauntless'' re-sailed for the Middle East after a short delay, with a plan to take part in the centenary of the Gallipoli Campaign. She conducted anti-piracy patrols, as well as provide escort to U.S. Navy aircraft carrier which is involved in airstrikes against ISIL. In November 2015, she participated with other NATO air defence ships in an "At Sea Demonstration", focusing on anti-ballistic missile warfare.

In April 2016, ''The Independent'' stated that the vessel had been relegated to use as a training ship due to manpower and technical shortages, although this was disputed by the MOD at the time. Her status as an engineering training ship pending entering refit was confirmed in June 2016.

In 2019 ''Dauntless'' underwent a regeneration refit in Portsmouth before sailing to Birkenhead in May 2020 as the first Type 45 to have new generators fitted under the Power Improvement Project. She left the shipyard on 14 June 2022 upon completion of the refit, and put to sea for the first time in two years

Characteristics

Affiliations

*The City of Newcastle upon Tyne
*The Town of Great Yarmouth and the County of Norfolk
*Adnams Brewery
*The Worshipful Company of Clothworkers
*The Worshipful Company of World Traders
*The Royal Naval Reserve headquarters at HMS Calliope
*The King's Royal Hussars
*No. 51 Squadron RAF
*No. 17 Squadron RAF
*Newcastle United Football Club
*The Percy Hedley Foundation in Forest Hall
*The children's ward of Newcastle General Hospital
*The Caister Lifeboat
*Royal Grammar School, Newcastle
*The Royal Hospital School
*Suffolk & Norfolk District, Sea Cadet Corps
*TS ''Lord Nelson'', Norwich Sea Cadets (257)
*TS ''Orwell'', Ipswich Sea Cadets
*TS ''Landguard'', Felixstowe Sea Cadets
*TS ''St Edmund'', Bury St Edmunds Sea Cadets
*TS ''Brave'', Beccles Sea Cadets
*TS ''Norfolk'', Great Yarmouth Sea Cadets
*TS ''Europa'', Lowestoft Sea Cadets
*TS ''Vancouver'', King's Lynn Sea Cadets
*TS ''Dauntless'', Gosforth Sea Cadets (396)
*TS ''Dauntless'', Maritime Cadets

Notes

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Dauntless (D33)
Type 45 destroyers
Ships built on the River Clyde
2007 ships
Destroyers of the United Kingdom