Last RAF hero who sank Adolf Hitler's Tirpitz battleship dies three weeks after celebrating his 100th birthday
- Sydney Grimes was a wireless operator on a Lancaster bomber of 617 Squadron
- The largest German warship ever built posed a constant threat to the Allies
- It had 120 guns, it was faster than any British warship and bombs bounced off it
The last of the RAF heroes who sank Adolf Hitler’s fearsome warship, the Tirpitz, has died at the age of 100.
Sydney Grimes was a wireless operator on a Lancaster bomber on the final two of the three daring raids 617 Squadron made on the ship, dubbed ‘The Beast’ by Winston Churchill.
Mr Grimes’ family yesterday confirmed he died on May 27, three weeks after celebrating his 100th birthday.
The largest German warship ever built, the Tirpitz – sister ship to the Bismarck – posed a constant threat to the Allies’ Arctic convoy supply runs.
Sydney Grimes’ family yesterday confirmed he died on May 27, three weeks after celebrating his 100th birthday
It had 120 guns, it was faster than any British warship and bombs bounced off its 12-inch steel armour.
Born in the Essex village of Great Wakering near Southend, Mr Grimes was 17 when war broke out.
He had left school at 14 to work as a clerk in E K Cole’s radio factory, later renamed EKCO.
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It was there he met Iris, whom he would go on to marry shortly before the Tirpitz raids.
He served first with 106 Squadron then joined 617 Squadron, by then famous as the ‘Dambusters’ from the ‘bouncing bomb’ raids on dams in 1943.
For the Tirpitz mission off the coast of Norway, Mr Grimes had a personal motivation.
Mr Grimes was a wireless operator on a Lancaster bomber on the final two of the three daring raids 617 Squadron made on Adolf Hitler’s fearsome warship, the Tirpitz (pictured)
‘My brother was in the Navy on HMS London escorting Arctic convoys,’ he said. ‘He’d told me about the Tirpitz and I knew it worried him.’
On the third raid on November 12, 1944, he and his comrades finally obliterated the warship Hitler had called ‘the pride of the German Navy’.
On receiving the news the Tirpitz had been destroyed, Mr Grimes recalled: ‘There was a cheer but the biggest emotion was a great sense of relief that we wouldn’t have to go back again!’
Mr Grimes completed 43 operations and finished the war as a flight lieutenant. He and Iris, who died more than two years ago, had three children.
The German battleship menace that was the Tirpitz
The German battleship Tirpitz posed a serious threat to Allied ships during the Second World War. It was so dangerous to Allied forces that Winston Churchill made its destruction a priority.
In January 1942, he said: 'The destruction or even crippling of this ship is the greatest event at sea at the present time. No other target is comparable to it.'
Operation Goodwood was a series of air raid against the Tirpitz conducted by Fleet Air Arm aircraft under the command of the Royal Navy.
The attacks took place in late August 1944 and attacked the ship at its anchorage in Kaafjord, Norway.
The German battleship Tirpitz was anchored in Kaafjord, Norway and posed a big threat to allied ships. In fact, Winston Churchill said: 'The destruction or even crippling of this ship is the greatest event at sea at the present time. No other target is comparable to it'
The first attack took place on the morning of August 22, however, the attack failed and a smaller evening raid also did little damage.
This continued on August 24 and 29 with the Tirpitz surviving both attacks - despite being hit by two bombs on August 24.
During the course of the operation, Britain lost 17 aircraft, a frigate sunk by a submarine and an escort carrier was also badly damaged.
German forces, on the other hand, suffered the loss of 12 aircraft and damage to seven ships.
The failure of the operation was seen as a significant blow to the Fleet Air Arm of the Navy and following Operation Goodwood, the responsibility for attacking Tirpitz was transferred to the Royal Air Force.
In three heavy bomber raids conducted during September and October 1944, the battleship was first crippled and then sunk.
Historians believe the failure and shortcomings of the Fleet Air Arm can be blamed on its aircraft and their poor armament.
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