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Born	2 Jul 1914		Hannover
Died	26 Dec 2005	(91)	Suessen, Germany

Erich Topp

Ranks 8 Apr 1934   Offiziersanwärter 1 Jul 1935   Fähnrich zur See 1 Jan 1937   Oberfähnrich zur See 1 Apr 1937   Leutnant zur See 1 Apr 1939   Oberleutnant zur See 1 Sep 1941   Kapitänleutnant 17 Aug 1942   Korvettenkapitän 1 Dec 1944   Fregattenkapitän Decorations 7 Nov 1939   U-boat War Badge 1939 20 Jun 1941   Knights Cross 11 Apr 1942   Knights Cross with Oak Leaves 11 Apr 1942   U-boat War Badge with Diamonds 17 Aug 1942   Knights Cross with Oak Leaves and Crossed Swords

Topp" border="2" /> Kapitänleutnant Erich Topp after a patrol.

Erich Topp began his naval career in April 1934. He served six months on the light cruiser Karlsruhe before joining the U-boat force in October 1937. A year later he became watch officer on U-46 (Sohler).

After four patrols in U-46, Topp took over command of U-57 (Korth). During this command he sank six ships with a total of 36,862 tons - a considerable achievement with a small coastal boat. U-57 sank on 3 September 1940 after colliding with the Norwegian ship Rona.

Topp then commissioned the larger type VIIC U-boat U-552, the famous "Red Devil Boat". Topp scored most of his successes in the North Atlantic against convoys, and off the North American coast. On his very successful eighth patrol in March/April 1942, he sank eight ships with a total of 45,731 tons.

Oberleutnant Erich Topp and his close friend Bertl Endrass

In September 1942 Topp became commander of the 27th (Training) Flotilla U-boat Flotilla, where new U-boat crews received their tactical training. Topp wrote the Battle Instructions for the new type XXI Elektro U-boat Elektro Boats in 1944, and when the war ended he was commanding one of them, U-2513, which he surrendered at Horten, Norway in May 1945.

Konteradmiral Erich Topp

After the war Topp worked for some months as a fisherman before becoming a successful architect. In March 1958 he joined the Bundesmarine (Federal German Navy). He then spent four years in the USA as a staff member of the Military Committee of NATO. Later he served in several staff positions, and for a month was deputy commander of U-boats.

Konteradmiral Erich Topp retired in December 1969. He was decorated in that year with the Großes Verdienstkreuz (Commander's Cross of the Order of Merit of Federal Germany).

From 1970 to 1984 he worked as an industrial consultant for, among others, the Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft shipyard.

He died on Dec 26 2005.

Sources

Busch, R. and Röll, H-J. (1999). German U-boat commanders of World War II.
Busch, R. and Röll, H-J. (1997). Der U-Bootkrieg 1939-1945 (Band 2).
Rohwer, J. (1998). Axis Submarine Successes of World War Two.

About ranks and decorations
Ranks shown in italics are our database inserts based on the rank dates of his crew comrades. The officers of each crew would normally have progressed through the lower ranks at the same rate.

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