HMS Dauntless, pennant D45, was a Danae-class light cruiser. Palmers Shipbuilding and Iron at Jarrow-on-Tyne laid her down on 3 January 1917, launched her on 10 April 1918, and the Royal Navy commissioned her on 26 November 1918. Uboat.net records that she was sold to be broken up on 13 February 1946 and that T. W. Ward broke her up at Inverkeithing in April 1946.
She was on the China Station in 1940 and 1941. In November 1941 she was withdrawn for a refit in the United Kingdom and took passage to Portsmouth in December. Geoffrey Mason's chronology notes that she was therefore not involved in the operations against Japan at the outbreak. The refit, finished in February 1942, fitted radar and replaced the after 4-inch gun with a quadruple pom-pom.
In March 1942 she sailed to join the 5th Cruiser Squadron in the Indian Ocean. In April she was on convoy defence. On 27 April she joined military convoy WS17 as ocean escort, with the battleship Revenge, from Cape Town to Durban, and she was detached on 7 May. On 5 June she was with the destroyer Anthony, on passage to Diego Suarez. On 13 June she patrolled with Danae between Diego Suarez and Farquhar Island to intercept Japanese submarines and supply ships. On 22 July she was diverted for the capture of Mayotte, Operation Throat. In September she was in Force M for the planned landings in Madagascar, Operation Stream, with Birmingham, Gambia, Caradoc, Manxman, the carrier Illustrious, the monitor Erebus and the seaplane carrier Albatross. On 10 September she took part in the landing at Majunga. The chronology says no bombardment was required, because there was no opposition.
She stayed on Indian Ocean trade defence through the autumn, joined convoy WS23 leaving Durban on 9 November, and was detached on 11 November when Hawkins relieved her. In December she went to Simonstown for a refit. The dockyard had her through February 1943. In March she was withdrawn from operational duty. She sailed for the United Kingdom in April and in May was at Chatham, selected for training. A conversion at Rosyth fitted her as a training ship for Y-scheme ratings, men selected for commissioned rank in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve. She joined the Training Squadron at Rosyth in October 1943. She was not sunk.
A note on sources. The 1941 withdrawal, the 1942 Indian Ocean movements, the patrol with Danae, Mayotte, Majunga and the 1943 training conversion are from Geoffrey Mason's service history on naval-history.net, saved as a digitized copy. Uboat.net's ship page, saved with it, gives the Palmers yard, the 3 January 1917 laying down, the 10 April 1918 launch, the 26 November 1918 commissioning, the pennant D45, the sale on 13 February 1946, and the breaking up at Inverkeithing in April 1946. Mason's December 1941 note says she was not involved in the operations against Japan, which is the outbreak. The same chronology then puts her with the 5th Cruiser Squadron in the Indian Ocean from March 1942, including the June patrol against Japanese submarines. Commanding officers and their dates are the uboat.net command table. That page has no career narrative for Nathaniel Greer Leeper, Edwin Peter Fitzmaurice Atkinson, David Charles Kinloch, or Philip Frederick Powlett. George Dunbar Moore is the Royal Australian Navy officer of that name. John Graham Hewitt is the same officer later in Royalist. Newton James Wallop William-Powlett is the same officer later in Gambia. Philip Frederick Powlett is a different man.