HMS Dauntless (D33)

HMS Dauntless is the second ship of the Type 45 or Daring-class air-defence destroyers built for the 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.

Operational history
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. 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. HMS 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.

Recent service
In May 2011, she 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 Russian destroyer Admiral Chabanenko, which was also heading for the FRUKUS exercises, conducting cross helicopter exercises which saw Dauntless's 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 HMS Montrose which was stationed around the Falkland Islands. The deployment was condemned by the government of Argentina, which claimed that the UK was "militarising the South Atlantic", despite the replacement representing only a modest increase in fighting capacity.

Advanced air-defence
The Type 45 destroyers are primarily designed for anti-aircraft and anti-missile warfare with the capability to defend against aircraft, drones as well as supersonic sea skimming anti-ship missiles. The Royal Navy describe the destroyers mission as "to shield the Fleet from air attack". The Type 45 destroyer uses the sophisticated Sea Viper air-defence system utilizing the SAMPSON active electronically scanned array multi-function air tracking radar, and the S1850M long-range air surveillance radar. The Sea Viper system is able to control and coordinate several missiles in the air at once, allowing several tracks to be intercepted. It has been suggested that the SAMPSON radar is capable of tracking an object the size of a cricket ball travelling at three times the speed of sound. A core component of the Type 45's Sea Viper air-defence system is the Aster missile, composing of the Aster 15 and Aster 30. MBDA describe Aster as an anti-missile missile capable of intercepting all types of high performance air threats at a max range of 120 km (Aster 30). The Aster missile is autonomously guided and equipped with an active RF seeker enabling it to cope with "saturated attacks" thanks to a "Multiple engagement capability" and a "high rate of fire". Presently the Daring-class destroyers are equipped with a 48-cell A50 Sylver Vertical Launching System allowing for a mix of up-tp 48 Aster 15 and 30 missiles. However, the Type 45 destroyer was designed to accommodate a total of 64-cells, while some reports suggest a total of 72-cells.

Commanding Officers

 * 2009-2011: Captain Richard Powell RN
 * 2011-2012: Captain William Warrender RN
 * 2012-Present: Commander Adrian Fryer RN

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
 * TS Dauntless, Gosforth Sea Cadets (396)