Erich Topp

Erich Topp
Born	(1914-07-02)2 July 1914
Died	26 December 2005(2005-12-26) (aged 91)
Place of birth	Hannover
Place of death	Süßen
Allegiance	Nazi Germany (to 1945) West Germany
Service/branch	Kriegsmarine German Navy
Years of service	1934-1945 — 1958-1969
Rank	Kriegsmarine: Fregattenkapitan Bundesmarine: Konteradmiral
Unit	1st U-boat Flotilla 7th U-boat Flotilla 4th U-boat Flotilla 11th U-boat Flotilla
Commands held	U-57, 1940-05-05-1940-09-15 U-552, 1940-12-04-1942-09-08 Flottillenchef 27th U-boat Flotilla, 1942-09-1945-03 U-3010, 1945-03-23-1945-04-26 U-2513, 1945-04-27-1945-05-08
Awards	U-boat War Badge with Diamonds Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords Great Cross of Merit
Other work	Architect, Joined the Bundesmarine in 1958

Rear Admiral Erich Topp (2 July 1914 – 26 December 2005) was the third most successful of German U-Boot Experten commanders of World War II. He was also a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords (German language: Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes mit Eichenlaub und Schwertern). The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross and its higher grade Oak Leaves and Swords was awarded to recognise extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership. He sank 35 ships for a total of 197,460 gross register tons (GRT)^{[Clarification needed]}.

Biography

Incorporates information from the corresponding article in the German Wikipedia

Topp was born in Hannover, the son of engineer John Topp, and joined the Kriegsmarine (German Navy) in 1934, serving his first stint after being commissioned as Leutnant zur See (Ensign) on the light cruiser Karlsruhe in 1937, before transferring to the U-Bootwaffe (submarine fleet) in October 1937. He served as Watch Officer on U-46 and took part in four combat patrols before he was given his first command on U-57 on 5 June 1940. He led U-57 on two missions during which the boat managed to sink six ships. She was sunk after a collision with a Norwegian vessel on 3 September 1940.

U-552 returning to St. Nazaire

Topp survived to take command of U-552, a Type VIIC boat — on 4 December 1940. With U-552, Der Rote Teufel, he operated mainly against convoys in the North Atlantic, sinking 30 ships and crippling several others on ten patrols. One of his victims during this period was the destroyer USS Reuben James, the first US warship to be sunk in World War II on 31 October 1941. While leading to diplomatic consequences with the United States, it was his sinking of the SS David H. Atwater the following year that remains particularly controversial. When Topp and U-552 spotted the coastal steamer David H. Atwater off Chincoteague, Virginia on 2 April 1942, they attacked. Without warning, the submarine opened fire on the tramp. As the crew scrambled for the lifeboats, Topp’s gunners turned their machine guns on the crowded small craft. Twenty-four of the 27 sailors aboard were killed.

In October 1942, he was given command of the 27th U-boat Flotilla, based in Gotenhafen (now Gdynia, Poland), which put him in charge of introducing the new Type XXI Elektro Boot boats to active service. He wrote the battle manual for the Type XXI, and shortly before the end of the war, he took command of U-2513, on which he surrendered on 8 May 1945, in Horten, Norway. From 20 May to 17 August 1945, Topp was a prisoner of war in Kragerog (Norway).

Prof. Gerhard Graubner and Topp designed and built the Stadthalle (city hall) in Mühlheim an der Ruhr.

On 4 June 1946, he started at the Technical University of Hanover, studying architecture, and graduated in 1950 with a degree in engineering. He also served as technical advisor for the 1957 film "Sharks and Minnows."

After his re-entry into the Navy on 3 March 1958 and a briefing at the Naval Staff, he served from 16 August 1958 as Chief of Staff at NATO's Military Committee in Washington DC. Subsequently he was on 1 October 1963 appointed Chief of Staff in command of the fleet, and served from 1 July 1965 as Deputy Director in the Naval Staff, employed in the Ministry of Defence. Promoted to flotilla admiral on 15 November 1965, he was simultaneously appointed chief of the operations staff of the Navy and Deputy Chief of the Navy. Promoted to Rear Admiral on 21 December 1966, as a tribute to his efforts in rebuilding the navy and the establishment of the transatlantic alliance, on 19 September 1969 he was awarded the Commander's Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany. He retired on 31 December 1969.

After retiring from the Bundeswehr, for a few years Topp was a technical advisor to the German shipyard HDW AG. His service as a NATO advisor was loosely portrayed (as "Commodore Wolfgang Schrepke") in the 1965 movie The Bedford Incident. His memoirs "The Odyssey of a U-Boat Commander: The Recollections of Erich Topp" was published in 1992. Topp was the technical advisor for the 2001 submarine simulation computer game Silent Hunter II. He was also interviewed for the game. He was interviewed on World War II submarine operations for the Nova special Hitler's Lost Sub, which detailed the efforts of a team of divers, led by John Chatterton and Richie Kohler to identify an unknown German U-Boat wreck 65 miles off the coast of New Jersey; the wreck was identified as U-869.

Topp died on 26 December 2005, in Süßen at the age of 91; he was survived by two sons, Peter Kay (b. 1945) and Michael (b. 1950), and five grandchildren.

Promotions

Kriegsmarine

• Offiziersanwärter (officer cadet) – 8 April 1934
• Seekadett (naval cadet) – 1934
• Fähnrich zur See (midshipman) – 1 July 1935
• Oberfähnrich zur see (senior midshipman) – 1 January 1937
• Leutnant zur See (acting sub-lieutenant) – 1 April 1937
• Oberleutnant zur See (sub-lieutenant) – 1 April 1939
• Kapitänleutnant (captain lieutenant/lieutenant) – 1 September 1941
• Korvettenkapitän (corvette captain/lieutenant commander) – 17 August 1942
• Fregattenkapitän (frigate captain/commander) – 1 December 1944

Bundesmarine

• Fregattenkapitän (frigate captain/commander) - 3 March 1958
• Kapitän zur See (captain at sea/captain) - 1 November 1959
• Flottillenadmiral (flotilla admiral/commodore) - 15 November 1965
• Konteradmiral (rear admiral) - 21 December 1966

Awards

• U-boat War Badge (7 November 1939)
  • with Diamonds (11 April 1942)
• Honorary dagger of the Kriegsmarine with Diamonds (17 August 1942)
• War Merit Cross
  • 2nd Class with Swords (30 January 1944)
  • 1st Class with Swords (1944)
• Iron Cross (1939)
  • 2nd Class (1 January 1940)
  • 1st Class (1 September 1940)
• Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords
  • Knight's Cross on 20 June 1941 as Oberleutnant zur See and commander of U-552
  • 87th Oak Leaves on 11 April 1942 as Kapitänleutnant and commander of U-552
  • 17th Swords on 17 August 1942 as Kapitänleutnant and commander of U-552
• Mentioned three times in the Wehrmachtbericht (3 July 1941, 11 April 1942, 18 June 1942)
• Großes Verdienstkreuz des Verdienstordens der Bundesrepublik Deutschland (19 September 1969)

Wehrmachtbericht references

Date	Original German Wehrmachtbericht wording	Direct English translation
Thursday, 3 July 1941	Bei den Operationen im Atlantik war ein Unterseeboot unter Führung von Oberleutnant zur See Topp besonders erfolgreich.	A submarine under the command of First Lieutenant at Sea Topp was particularly successful in the operations in the Atlantic.
Saturday, 11 April 1942	Kapitänleutnant Topp, der sich bei den Operationen deutscher Unterseeboote vor der amerikanischen Küste wieder besonders ausgezeichnete, hat bisher 31 Schiffe mir 208 000 BRT, sowie einen Zerstörer und einen Bewacher versenkt.	Captain Lieutenant Topp, who has again particularly distinguished himselves in the operations of German submarines off the American coast, has now sunk 31 vessels of 208 000 GRT, and a destroyer and a guard.
Thursday, 18 June 1942	Die Unterseeboote unter Führung der Kapitänleutnante Mohr, Topp, Witte und von Rosenstiel und des Oberleutnants zur See Ites haben sich bei der Bekämpfung der feindlichen Versorgungsschiffahrt besonders ausgezeichnet.	The submarines under the leadership of Captain Lieutenant Mohr, Topp, Witte and von Rosenstiel and Lieutenant at Sea Ites have in the fight against the enemy supply shipping particularly distinguished themselves.

References

Citations

Bibliography

• Busch, Hans-Joachim; Röll (2003) (in German). Der U-Boot-Krieg 1939–1945 — Die Ritterkreuzträger der U-Boot-Waffe von September 1939 bis Mai 1945 [The U-Boat War 1939–1945 — The Knight's Cross Bearers of the U-Boat Force from September 1939 to May 1945]. Hamburg, Berlin, Bonn Germany: Verlag E.S. Mittler & Sohn. ISBN 978-3-8132-0515-2. 
• Fellgiebel, Walther-Peer (2000) (in German). Die Träger des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939–1945 – Die Inhaber der höchsten Auszeichnung des Zweiten Weltkrieges aller Wehrmachtsteile [The Bearers of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross 1939–1945 — The Owners of the Highest Award of the Second World War of all Wehrmacht Branches]. Friedberg, Germany: Podzun-Pallas. ISBN 978-3-7909-0284-6. 
• Kurowski, Franz (1995). Knight's Cross Holders of the U-Boat Service. Atglen, PA: Schiffer Publishing. ISBN 978-0-88740-748-2. 
• Range, Clemens (1974). Die Ritterkreuzträger der Kriegsmarine [The Knight's Cross Bearers of the Navy]. Stuttgart, Germany: Motorbuch Verlag. ISBN 978-3-87943-355-1. 
• Savas, Theodore P., Editor. (2004) Hunt and Kill: U-505 and the U-boat War in the Atlantic. Savas Beatie LLC, New York, NY. (Topp Foreword)
• Savas, Theodore P., editor. (1997, 2004). Silent Hunters: German U-boat Commanders of World War II. Savas Publishing Company. (Includes previously unpublished essay by Topp about his best friend and fellow U-boat commander Engelbert Endrass, written by Topp while at sea during his 15th war patrol.)
• Scherzer, Veit (2007) (in German). Die Ritterkreuzträger 1939–1945 Die Inhaber des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939 von Heer, Luftwaffe, Kriegsmarine, Waffen-SS, Volkssturm sowie mit Deutschland verbündeter Streitkräfte nach den Unterlagen des Bundesarchives [The Knight's Cross Bearers 1939–1945 The Holders of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross 1939 by Army, Air Force, Navy, Waffen-SS, Volkssturm and Allied Forces with Germany According to the Documents of the Federal Archives]. Jena, Germany: Scherzers Miltaer-Verlag. ISBN 978-3-938845-17-2. 
• Topp, Erich (1992). The Odyssey of a U-boat Commander (in English).
• (in German) Die Wehrmachtberichte 1939–1945 Band 1, 1. September 1939 bis 31. Dezember 1941 [The Wehrmacht Reports 1939–1945 Volume 1, 1 September 1939 to 31 December 1941]. München, Germany: Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag GmbH & Co. KG. 1985. ISBN 978-3-423-05944-2. 
• (in German) Die Wehrmachtberichte 1939–1945 Band 2, 1. Januar 1942 bis 31. Dezember 1943 [The Wehrmacht Reports 1939–1945 Volume 2, 1 January 1942 to 31 December 1943]. München, Germany: Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag GmbH & Co. KG. 1985. ISBN 978-3-423-05944-2. 
• Helden der Wehrmacht III - Unsterbliche deutsche Soldaten (in German). München, Germany: FZ-Verlag GmbH, 2007. ISBN 978-3-924309-82-4.

External links

• • Erich Topp in the German National Library catalogue
  • "Uboat.net". The Men – Erich Topp. http://uboat.net/men/topp.htm. Retrieved 8 February 2007. 
  • Bavarian Army Museum in Ingolstadt