Nickname: No information
Date of Birth: 02.07.1914 - Hannover, Lower Saxony (Germany)
Date of Death: 26.12.2005 - Süßen, Baden-Württemberg (Germany)
Battles and Operations: Battle of the Atlantic, operations in the North Atlantic against convoys, operations off the North American coast, Wolfpack Zieten
NSDAP-Number: Member since May 1933 (no number known)
SS-Number: No information
Religion: No information
Parents: No information
Siblings: No information
Spouse: No information
Children: Two sons, Peter Kay Topp (1945-2015) and Michael Topp (born 1950)
Promotions:
08.04.1934 Offiziersanwärter
01.07.1935 Fähnrich zur See
01.01.1937 Oberfähnrich zur See
01.04.1937 Leutnant zur See
01.04.1939 Oberleutnant zur See
01.09.1941 Kapitänleutnant
17.08.1942 Korvettenkapitän
01.12.1944 Fregattenkapitän
01.11.1959 Kapitän zur See (Bundesmarine)
15.11.1965 Flottillenadmiral (Bundesmarine)
21.12.1966 Konteradmiral (Bundesmarine)
Career:
08.04.1934-13.06.1934 basic training
14.06.1934-26.09.1934 school ship Gorch Fock
27.09.1934-15.06.1935 light cruiser Karlsruhe (training cruise to North America)
30.06.1935-29.06.1936 Naval Academy Mürwik
16.10.1936-31.03.1937 light cruiser Karlsruhe
05.10.1937 U-boat training Neustadt in Holstein
26.09.1938-01.05.1940 1st watch officer on U-46 (three patrols)
05.06.1940-15.09.1940 commander U-57 (four patrols, boat lost in collision 03.09.1940)
04.12.1940-04.11.1944 commander U-552 (12 patrols)
September 1942-1944 commander 27th (Training) U-boat Flotilla
1944 writer of Battle Instructions for Type XXI Elektro U-boats
23.03.1945-26.04.1945 commander U-3010
26.04.1945-20.05.1945 commander U-2513 (surrendered at Horten, Norway)
03.03.1958 joined Bundesmarine as Fregattenkapitän
16.08.1958-1962 staff member Military Committee NATO in Washington D.C.
01.01.1962-30.09.1963 commander amphibious forces
01.10.1963 chief-of-staff Flottenkommando
01.07.1965 sub command department Führungsstab der Marine
01.10.1966-30.09.1969 deputy inspector of the Navy and chief Führungsstab der Marine
December 1969 retirement as Konteradmiral
1970-1984 industrial consultant including Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft
Awards and Decorations:
U-boat War Badge 1939 07.11.1939
Iron Cross 2nd Class 01.01.1940
Iron Cross 1st Class 01.09.1940
Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 20.06.1941 (75th award) awarded for the sinking of 14 ships for 89,981 GRT and the damaging of a further 2 ships for 13,597 GRT over the course of five operational cruises as commander of U-57 and U-552. Among the ships sunk was the British armed trawler Commander Horton.
U-boat War Badge with Diamonds 11.04.1942
Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes mit Eichenlaub on 11.04.1942 (87th award) awarded following five successful combat cruises which resulted in the sinking of 13 ships for 68,303 GRT. One of these was the US destroyer USS Reuben James which was sunk on 31.10.1941 before the official German declaration of war on the USA. These successes together with earlier ones brought his total to 31 vessels for 208,000 GRT plus a destroyer and a patrol vessel.
Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes mit Eichenlaub und Schwertern on 17.08.1942 (17th award) awarded after the sinking of 6 ships for 20,994 GRT and the damaging of 3 ships for 25,887 GRT over the course of 2 combat cruises as commander of U-552.
Kriegsmarine honorary dagger with diamonds 17.08.1942
War Merit Cross 2nd Class with Swords 30.01.1944
War Merit Cross 1st Class with Swords 1944
Großes Verdienstkreuz des Verdienstordens der Bundesrepublik Deutschland 19.09.1969
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Erich Topp was born on 2 July 1914 in Hannover and joined the Reichsmarine on 8 April 1934. After basic training and service on the school ship Gorch Fock and the light cruiser Karlsruhe he attended the Naval Academy Mürwik and completed torpedo training. He transferred to the U-boat arm in October 1937 and served as first watch officer on U-46 under Herbert Sohler for three patrols in 1939-1940 during which he received the U-boat War Badge and Iron Cross 2nd Class. On 5 June 1940 he took command of the small Type IIC coastal boat U-57 and conducted four patrols in the North Atlantic and North Channel sinking six ships for 36,862 tons and damaging one more before the boat was lost in a collision with the Norwegian steamer Rona near Brunsbüttel on 3 September 1940. For these successes he was awarded the Iron Cross 1st Class.
Topp then commissioned the new Type VIIC boat U-552, known as the Red Devil Boat because of the grinning red devil painted on the conning tower, at Blohm & Voss in Hamburg on 4 December 1940 and joined the 7th U-boat Flotilla at St. Nazaire. His first two patrols west of Ireland and south of Iceland brought the sinking of five ships and damage to one more. On the third patrol from 25 May to 2 July 1941 in the North Channel and west of Ireland U-552 sank three ships for over 25,000 tons including the large British steamer Norfolk. The BdU credited these sinkings plus previous successes with a total of fourteen ships sunk for 89,981 GRT and two damaged for 13,597 GRT over five operational cruises. For this record Erich Topp was awarded the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 20 June 1941 while still at sea, the 75th recipient overall.
After brief patrols in August and September-October 1941 he conducted the sixth patrol in October-November during which U-552 sank the American destroyer USS Reuben James on 31 October 1941 east of the Grand Banks while escorting Convoy HX-156, the first US Navy warship lost in World War II with 100 of 144 crew lost. The seventh patrol in December 1941-January 1942 as part of Wolfpack Zieten targeted shipping off Nova Scotia and the Grand Banks. The eighth patrol from 7 March to 27 April 1942 along the US East Coast proved exceptionally successful with seven ships sunk for 45,731 tons in American coastal waters. These additional sinkings brought his cumulative total to thirty-one vessels for 208,000 GRT plus a destroyer and a patrol vessel. While still at sea on 11 April 1942 Topp received notification of the Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves, the 87th award, together with the U-boat War Badge with Diamonds.
On the ninth patrol in June 1942 west of Spain against Convoy HG-84 he sank five ships for 15,825 tons. The tenth patrol from 4 July to 13 August 1942 in the North Atlantic added two ships sunk for 14,555 tons and two damaged for 18,720 tons. These two cruises accounted for six ships sunk for 20,994 GRT and three damaged for 25,887 GRT. Upon return to St. Nazaire on 13 August 1942 Erich Topp was awarded the Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords on 17 August 1942, the 17th recipient of the Swords, and was promoted to Korvettenkapitän the same day. He also received the Kriegsmarine honorary dagger with diamonds.
In September 1942 Topp left front-line service to become commander of the 27th (Training) U-boat Flotilla in Gotenhafen where he trained new crews. In 1944 he wrote the official Battle Instructions for the revolutionary Type XXI Elektro U-boats. He briefly commanded U-3010 and then took over the new Type XXI boat U-2513 on 26 April 1945, surrendering it at Horten, Norway on 20 May 1945. After release from captivity in August 1945 he studied architecture at the Technical University of Hannover, graduating in 1950, and worked as an architect and technical advisor. He rejoined the Bundesmarine on 3 March 1958, served four years at NATO in Washington D.C., held various staff and command positions including commander of amphibious forces and deputy inspector of the Navy, and retired as Konteradmiral in December 1969. That year he received the Großes Verdienstkreuz of the Federal Republic of Germany. From 1970 until 1984 he worked as an industrial consultant, notably for Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft. He was technical advisor for several films including Sharks and Little Fish (1957), The Bedford Incident (1965) and contributed to the computer game Silent Hunter II. His memoirs The Odyssey of a U-Boat Commander were published in 1992. Erich Topp died on 26 December 2005 in Süßen at the age of 91 and was survived by his two sons and five grandchildren.
Unique and interesting facts include that he painted a red devil emblem on the conning tower of U-552 which became famous, maintained a lifelong friendship with fellow ace Engelbert Endrass, was personally acquainted with Martin Bormann and invited to Berchtesgaden, had a Jewish aunt by marriage who survived Theresienstadt, kept an oil painting of Endrass and a periscope from U-552 in his home after the war, designed the Stadthalle in Mülheim an der Ruhr, and openly criticized Karl Dönitz postwar for his knowledge of the Holocaust and unwavering National Socialist convictions.
Source:
https://www.lexikon-der-wehrmacht.de/
https://en.wikipedia.org/
https://www.tracesofwar.com/
https://uboat.net/
https://www.unithistories.com/
https://forum.axishistory.com/
https://www.wehrmacht-awards.com/forums/
https://www.bundesarchiv.de/en/
https://www.geni.com/
https://books.google.com/
https://www.historisches-marinearchiv.de/
Topp, Erich. The Odyssey of a U-Boat Commander: Recollections of Erich Topp. Praeger, 1992.
Busch, Rainer and Röll, Hans-Joachim. German U-boat Commanders of World War II. Naval Institute Press, 1999.
Rohwer, Jürgen and Hümmelchen, Gerhard. Chronology of the War at Sea 1939-1945. Naval Institute Press, 1992.
Vause, Jordan. U-Boat Aces. Naval Institute Press, 1997.
Scherzer, Veit. Die Ritterkreuzträger 1939-1945. Scherzers Militaer-Verlag, 2007.
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