Dale trailed 11-5 going into the final session but incredibly won seven frames in a row as he threatened to match great Crucible fight-backs like Shaun Murphy's against Matthew Stevens in 2007 and Neil Robertson's against Martin Gould in 2010.
But Hawkins, having been frozen out for much of the session, showed plenty of character to raise his game at the crucial moment and make two-frame winning breaks to come from 12-11 down and win 13-12. The Kent-based player goes through to the last four to face Ronnie O'Sullivan in a repeat of last year's final. Hawkins produced an impressive performance 12 months ago, though he was denied the title by an unstoppable opponent, O'Sullivan winning 18-12.
World number four Hawkins is a man in form having won the Players Championship in Preston last month, and may feel he has nothing to lose as he aims to derail O'Sullivan's bid to win a third consecutive crown.
Hawkins scored just 58 points in the first five frames today as Welshman Dale fired in breaks of 75, 65, 64, 47 and 61 to get from 11-15 down to 11-10. The next two frames both came down to the last red, and both times Dale won a safety battle and added the points he needed to edge ahead at 12-11.
However the player nicknamed the Spaceman didn't score a point in the last two frames, as Hawkins compiled runs of 66 and 65 for victory. Hawkins punched the air - and the table - in a rare show of emotion after potting the decisive ball.
"It was an unbelievable match - I would have been devastated if I'd lost after having such a big lead," said 34-year-old Hawkins. "But Dominic played so well to come back at me. I had a few chances but anything that could go wrong was going wrong. I'm pleased with the way I held myself together and showed a bit of bottle.
"I just kept telling myself that there was just two frames to play. To try hard and see what happens. I felt pretty good and started cuing the ball better, and played some great stuff to win the match.
"It's a tough place to be when someone's coming back at you. Dominic was playing some great safety and really keeping me off the table. He was making it really difficult for me.
"I'm really looking forward to playing Ronnie tomorrow. I have to take my chances. Shaun Murphy had plenty of chances and just didn't convert them. Today will be forgotten about tomorrow when I walk out."
As for his celebration today, Hawkins added: "You have to release sometimes - not in disrespect to the other player - it just means so much. You can't bottle it all the time, you have to let it out."
Dale said: "When you're 11-5 down you've just got to plod along and be as focussed as you can. I just had to play as well as I could. I went back to an old cue action to steady myself down, whether it was going to work or not I had no idea, but it did. I played fairly solid snooker - I made 60 breaks almost every frame.
"Barry's a class act, I can see why he's world number four - mentally he's very strong, he's got a lot of belief in himself and great technique. In the end, I'm pleased I lived with him all the way.
"I'm not going to be remotely disappointed because he just played magnificent snooker to carve out a victory in the end."
