FRANK S. TAYLOR FAMILY AND ROYAL NAVY HISTORY.NET
H.M.S. DAUNTLESS
Danae (D) Class Light Cruiser
THE EARLY YEARS
1918 – 1938
Original Cap Tally
Original hand-coloured postcard H.M.S Dauntless leaving Portsmouth April 1930
This original postcard shows H.M.S. Dauntless 8 Dec 1922 Sent by H L Featherley Card Caption reads: ‘Yours. to. a. T.’
H.M.S. Dauntless 1918 Original and unique postcard from the archive of Oscar Parkes. Shows H.M.S. Dauntless close in off the port bow being manoeuvred by tugs.
We believe the following three photos were taken during fitting- out and sea trials in1918.
H.M.S. Dauntless launched from the Palmers Shipbuilding and Iron Company in 1918.
H.M.S. Dauntless 1919. Note Hangar under Bridge.
In 1919 she was assigned to operate in the Baltic Sea against the Bolshevik revolutionaries in Russia. She was then on detached service in the West Indies.
See this website regarding her service in the Baltic and the West Indies:
H.M.S. Dauntless 1919 in the Baltic Sea in support of White Russians and Anti-Bolshevik Forces. Original and unique postcard from the archives of Oscar Parkes.
H.M.S. Danae Sistership of H.M.S Dauntless alongside Danzig pier - February 1920
Boom of H.M.S. Danae February 1920. Libau, Danzig
Following this assignment, she was attached to the 1st Light Cruiser Squadron of the Atlantic Fleet for the following five years.
The Airship R38 Disaster
H.M.S. Dauntless New York Harbour - September 12 1921 Original photo officers & crew on Forecastle. Dauntless conveyed the bodies of American officers and men from the ill-fated (R-38) – ZR2 Airship disaster. USS Ericsson DD56 on right of crew photo
For more detail regarding the R38 Airship Disaster refer this website:
H.M.S. Dauntless was a member of the Cruise of the Special Service Squadron, also known as the 'Empire Cruise', of 1923/24. Following this tour, she went with the squadron to the Mediterranean for the next few years.
H.M.S. Dauntless and Sistership Dragon. Adelaide South Australia 10 - 16 March 1924
H.M.S. Dragon. Adelaide South Australia 10 - 16 March 1924. Sister ship of H.M.S. Dauntless
H.M.S. Dauntless in a 1924 Souvenir British Fleet booklet
H.M.S. Dauntless special service squadron
Danae class of Light Cruisers
H.M.S. Dauntless Panama Canal 1924
Royal Navy Cruiser H.M.S. Dauntless Passing out of swimming at Horoluo (Honolulu) – Empire Cruise 1923 - 24)
H.M.S. Dauntless - Malta October 1926
H.M.S. Dauntless Light Cruiser February 1927 with crew on deck
In May1928 H.M.S. Dauntless was recommissioned and assigned to the America and West Indies Station. She ran aground in July off Halifax, Nova Scotia, and was badly damaged, suffering the breach of her engine room and one of her boiler rooms. Subsequently all of her guns, torpedo tubes and much of her other equipment had to be removed to lighten the ship. She was finally re-floated and towed off by her sister, H.M.S. Despatch, and a number of tugs. She was repaired throughout 1929 and was reduced to the reserve.
For details regarding the loss of H.M.S Tribune – September 22nd 1797 see:
This photograph shows an embarrassing moment of the massive British cruiser H.M.S. Dauntless after she ran aground on perilous Thrum Cap Shoal. Serious flooding nearly submerged her bow. She was later repaired and went on to see action in World War II.
H.M.S. DAUNTLESS ON THE ROCKS OFF NOVA SCOTIA.
H.M.S. Dauntless photographed on Thrum Cap Shoal.
The cruiser was partly abandoned at night, the officers remaining on board, but the crew returned in the morning to help in the preliminary salvage efforts. The men were accommodated temporarily in the Naval Dockyard at Halifax and in Canadian warships until arrangements could be made for their transport home. It was found that 30 ft. of plate had been torn from her bottom, exposing both of her boiler-rooms to the sea. The United States Navy Department gave assistance for re-floating the Dauntless.
In 1930 H.M.S. Dauntless was transferred back to the America and West Indies Station. During 1931-1933 she served with the South American Division, and in1934 she relieved H.M.S. Curlew in the Mediterranean and was reassigned to the 3rd Cruiser Squadron.
See this Website for more details:
America and West Indies Station 1930 - 1932 America and West Indies Station and The Mediterranean 1932 - 1935
H.M.S. Dauntless Leaving Portsmouth April 1930 with crew on deck. Flag flying proudly
H.M.S. Dauntless Christmas Cruise 1931 Alaska Grenada Rio Canada Original Post Card
H.M.S. Dauntless - Miraflores Locks 1932 (Panama Canal) During the South American Cruise.
H.M.S. Dauntless 1932 Balboa Panama Canal RP crew on dockside at Balboa, Panama during South American cruise
H.M.S. Dauntless - September 1932 Leaving for South America and the Straits and the Mediterranean
H.M.S. Dauntless Crewmember Benny Goris Taken in Malta 1930’s
This rare Christmas Card c.1932 – 35 was sent from H.M.S. Dauntless by JX13191 E. G. Christopher R.N. This item relates to H.M.S. Dauntless 1932 – 1935 South America and the Straits (Gibraltar and Mediterranean) tour.
H.M.S. Dauntless Royal Navy Cruiser 6-inch gun competition at Mar del Plata 1932-34
H.M.S. Dauntless 1932-34 Going around Cape Horn
In 1935 she returned to Britain to be paid off into the reserve.
At the outbreak of WW2, H.M.S. Dauntless was recommissioned and joined the 9th Cruiser Squadron with the South Atlantic Command. Later transferred to the China Station and then operating as a unit of the British Malaya Force in the Indian Ocean – mainly off Batavia to keep watch over German merchant ships in the Dutch East Indies harbour.
On 15 June 1941 she collided with H.M.S. Emerald off Malacca and had to put into Singapore for repairs.
In February 1942 she returned to Britain for a refit at Portsmouth. After this she transferred to the Eastern Fleet and participated in the Allied Invasion of Madagascar. In November she was docked at the Selborne dry dock at Simonstown, South Africa, and returned to England arriving in May 1943,
She was then used as a training ship and in February 1945 was again reduced to the Reserve.
She was broken up in 1946 at Inverkeithing, Fife, Scotland.
H.M.S. Dauntless Leaving Portsmouth April 1930 With crew on deck
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