MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

The name HMS Dauntless is no newcomer for the Falkland Islands

HMS Dauntless at anchor in Stanley harbour in November 1933

In anticipation of the imminent arrival in the Falkland Islands of the Royal Navy’s Type 45 destroyer HMS Dauntless, local historian and author John Allan writes that her predecessor was posted to the Islands in the 1930s.

Pictures show HMS Dauntless at anchor in Stanley Harbour in November 1933 with the government steam launch Penguin in attendance.

“Unfortunately during this time Leading Seaman Arthur Reginald Fairburn died age 27 on November 6, 1933. The photograph shows the ship’s company moving down Ross Road East to the Stanley cemetery where he is buried in grave K1047”, points out John Allen.

“Being only one year old at the time I obviously don’t recall the sad occasion but Dauntless would have had a ship’s complement of 550 to 600 officers and ratings” added John.

Five ships and one Shore Establishment of the Royal Navy have borne the name HMS Dauntless. The first was an 18-gun sloop launched at Hull, England in November 1804. In 1807 she ran aground during a battle in the Vistula River and was forced to surrender to the French.

A second was a 26-gun sloop launched in 1808 and sold for breaking in 1825, while another a 24-gun (from 1854, 33-gun) frigate was launched in 1847 and sold for breaking in 1885.

A Danae-class light cruiser launched in 1918 was also named Dauntless and was used as a training vessel from 1943 before being sold for breaking in up 1946.

The name was also used for a WRNS Training Establishment at Burghfield, near Reading, Berkshire, from 1947 until 1981.

Currently sailing in the South Atlantic, HMS Dauntless is now a Type 45 destroyer launched on January 23, 2007 at the BAE Systems Govan shipyard in Glasgow, and commissioned in June 2010. (Penguin News)