The Dauntless was a 19th-century wooden yacht schooner, designed and built in 1866 by Forsyth & Morgan at Mystic Bridge, Connecticut, and owned and sailed by noted yachtsmen, among them James Gordon Bennett Jr. and Caldwell Hart Colt.

The 97-foot keel sloop schooner L'Hirondelle was designed by J.B Van Deusen and built in May 1866 by the Forsyth & Morgan shipyard in Mystic Bridge, Connecticut for S. Dexter Bradford, Jr., of Newport, Rhode Island.

[1] On October 31, 1866, the L'Hirondelle was in her first race with the yacht Vesta, owned by Pierre Lorillard.

In May 1870, Sappho won the race against James Lloyd Ashbury's English yacht Cambria.

[12] Bennett made an unsuccessful challenge for the first race for the 1870 America's Cup, held since 1851 by the New York Yacht Club.

Bennett's first challenge was on August 8, 1870, with his yacht Dauntless, with "Bully" Samuels at the helm.

The race was won by the Franklin Osgood's Magic with the Dauntless finishing in fifth place.

Other boats in the race included the yachts: Franklin Osgood's Columbia, Gracie, and Dauntless.

As result, the Franklin Osgood's Columbia, skippered by Andrew J. Comstock, won the first two races.

[17] The Sappho won the final race to win America's Cup for the New York Yacht Club.

The course was from Owl's Head to Roche's Point, Cork Harbour, Ireland, with the New York Yacht Club was in charge of the race.

[22][23][24] On August 8, 1892, the Dauntless was in the Morgan Cup for schooners at the New York Yacht Club's annual race.

It was raised and towed by Captain Thomas Scott to his boatyard, where it was broken up, put on a train, and shipped to Wisconsin for firewood.