MPS Dauntless

colspan="2" style="text-align: center; font-size: 90%; border-bottom: 1px solid #aaa; line-height: 1.25em;"	Dauntless off Mikona Harbor
class="fn" colspan="2" style="background: lightsteelblue; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle;"	Dauntless
Nickname:	Bold Little Dauntless
Class:	Fearless-class First-Class Frigate
Nation:	M'Chek
Battles/wars:	Battle of Quithranos Battle of West Shore Battle of Port Rasmus Battle of the Pyrite Isles Battle of Hel'bysia
class="fn" colspan="2" style="background: lightsteelblue; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle;"	Specifications
Builder:	Wenton & Grumbald Yards
Tons Burthen:	578 tons
Deck Length:	126'
Keel Length:	108'6"
Breadth:	31'8"
Depth of Hold:	10'
Crew Complement:	198
Armament:	24 x 9-pound long-guns 2 x Deglossian-brass long-nine chasers 10 x multi-purpose harpoon launchers

MPS Dauntless, also known as Bold Little Dauntless was a M'Chekian first-class frigate built and commissioned during the latter part of the M'Chek-T'Nanshi War. She was among the first ships built of M'Chekian Rock Elm, and was the first ship of any southern nation armed exclusively with a cannon based armament.

She is primarily associated with the career and exploits of Ayren Milen, and was his flagship at the fateful Battle of Hel'bysia.

Design and Construction

A draught of Dauntless, showing her fine, Andarran influenced lines.

Dauntless and her sisters of the Fearless-class were designed in the late stages of the M'Chek-T'Nanshi War as a response to the growing use of sea lanes as a means for T'Nanshi to move supplies from one end of their country (and in particular Elysia) to the other. Unlike existing M'Chekian cruiser designs, Fearless and her sisters were meant to operate as single units rather than as part of a larger squadron, and were therefore built to the more exacting standards employed by the Andarran and Kurathene Imperial Navies.

As part of this experiment, the Admiralty approved construcing the first three units of this class (Fearless, Dauntless and Daring) out of the rare and highly valuable M'Chekian Rock Elm. It also provided M'Chekian shipwrights the first opportunity to build a ship capable of mounting a single continuous weapons arsenal. With the added stability of rock elm, it was decided to rig these ships with much larger masts than traditional cruisers of their tonnage, and this contributed to their rakish, predatory appearance.

Of the three, Dauntless was chosen to be the first M'Chekian ship armed exclusively with cannon as its primary armament. Compared to Fearless, she was built with a greater emphasis on freeboard of her main weapon ports, and as a consequence is somewhat lighter, with less ballast. Laid down at the Wenton & Grumbald Yards near Mikona, Dauntless was completed and launched over a course of approximately three years.

Career

Equipped with experimental and untested weapons (at least by M'Chekian standards), it was decided to give command of Dauntless to a foreign officer with experience in her particular type of warfare and armament. As a result Ayren Milen was chosen to take command of the frigate as part of an independent coastal warfare unit.

M'Chek-T'Nanshi War

Despite participating in only the last few months of the war, Dauntless had a fairly impressive combat record. In the eastern seas she quickly became a scourge to elven shipping, combining her superior armament with speed and durability to gain a reputation for quick, hard strikes agaisnt both merchant and military shipping.

She was instrumental in the M'Chekian defense of Eastshore, as well as several well publicized frigate duels. She also served as the pendant ship of the invasion squadron at the Battle of Quithranos.

Post-War Career

After the war, Dauntless was assigned primarily to anti-piracy and smuggling activities where she and her crew were responsible for several major arrests and captures. She was also the ship that discovered the deserted island of Port Rasmus, which was later colonized under her watchful cannon.

Dauntless continued to serve with distinction in the M'Chekian navy, well after Captain Milen relinquished command, with several successful anti-piracy cruises and a stint as the flagship of the Independent Cruiser Squadron.

Loss at Hel'bysia

After being placed in command of the joint Kurathene-M'Chekian anti-slavery squadron, the newly promoted Admiral Milen shifted his flag to Dauntless after his previous flagship Aledia returned to Kalion for refit. As the flagship of the cruiser squadron, Dauntless was the lead ship in the squadron which pursued the shaahesk raiding fleet to Hel'bysia.

In the battle, Dauntless was crippled by a lucky broadside from the captured Skirmisher, knocking out her rudder and leaving her vulnerable to boarders. Despite destroying a war galley intent on boarding her, she was eventually surrounded on all sides by shaahesk boarders. Admiral Milen evacuated most of his crew, then destroyed Dauntless with himself aboard to prevent her from falling into shaahesk hands.