The Danae class mounted an extra 6 inch gun and a heavier torpedo armament, compared with their predecessors, the C-class cruiser.

Completed too late to see action in the First World War, in 1919 she was assigned to operate in the Baltic Sea against the Bolshevik revolutionaries in Russia.

On the outbreak of the Second World War, Dauntless was recommissioned and joined the 9th Cruiser Squadron with the South Atlantic Command.

She operated mainly off Batavia, keeping watch on German merchant ships in the Dutch East Indies harbours.

On 15 June 1941 she collided with the cruiser Emerald off Malacca and had to put into Singapore for repairs, that were eventually completed on 15 August.