HMS Redstart was one of three Royal Navy Linnet-class minelayers built in 1938. Assigned to the Royal Navy's China Station at the outbreak of World War II, she was scuttled during the Battle of Hong Kong on 19 December 1941 to prevent capture by the invading Japanese. Following the scuttling, its commander, Lt Cdr Henry Charles Sylvester Collingwood-Selby, participated in the defence of the colony where he was later wounded and captured, spending the rest of the war as a POW.

HMS Redstart
History
United Kingdom
NameHMS Redstart
NamesakeCommon redstart
Ordered22 March 1937
BuilderHenry Robb
Laid downSeptember 1937
Launched3 May 1938
Commissioned1 November 1938
IdentificationPennant number M62
FateScuttled in Hong Kong on 19 December 1941
General characteristics
TypeLinnet-class minelayer
Displacement498 tons standard
Length
  • 145 ft 0 in (44.20 m) (p/p)
  • 163 ft 9 in (49.91 m) (o/a)
Beam27 ft 2 in (8.28 m)
Draught8 ft 0 in (2.44 m)
Propulsion
  • Triple expansion engine
  • 1 shaft
  • 400 hp (300 kW)
Speed10.5 knots (19.4 km/h)
Complement24
Armament

References

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  • Jane's Fighting Ships 1939, p. 98
  • Cocker, M.P. (1993). Mine Warfare Vessels of the Royal Navy: 1908 to Date. Shrewsbury, England: Airlife Publishing. ISBN 1-85310-328-4.
  • Collingwood-Selby, H.C.S (2016). In Time of War. Proverse Hong Kong. ISBN 978-9888228225.
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