Erich Topp

Fregattenkapitän (Crew 34)

Successes
35 ships sunk, total tonnage 197,460 GRT
1 warship sunk, total tonnage 1,190 tons
4 ships damaged, total tonnage 32,317 GRT

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

U-boat Commands

U-boat	From	To
U-57	5 Jun 1940	15 Sep 1940	2 patrols (44 days)
U-552	4 Dec 1940	8 Sep 1942	10 patrols (308 days)
U-3010	9 Mar 1945	26 Apr 1945	No war patrols
U-2513	27 Apr 1945	9 May 1945	No war patrols

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.

Patrol info for Erich Topp

	U-boat	Departure		Arrival
1.	U-57	11 Jul 1940	Kiel	15 Jul 1940	Bergen		5 days
2.	U-57	15 Jul 1940	Bergen	20 Jul 1940	Bergen	Patrol 1,	6 days
3.	U-57	22 Jul 1940	Bergen	7 Aug 1940	Lorient	Patrol 1,	17 days
4.	U-57	14 Aug 1940	Lorient	3 Sep 1940	Sunk	Patrol 2,	21 days
5.	U-552	13 Feb 1941	Kiel	15 Feb 1941	Helgoland		3 days
6.	U-552	18 Feb 1941	Helgoland	16 Mar 1941	St. Nazaire	Patrol 3,	27 days
7.	U-552	7 Apr 1941	St. Nazaire	6 May 1941	St. Nazaire	Patrol 4,	30 days
8.	U-552	25 May 1941	St. Nazaire	2 Jul 1941	St. Nazaire	Patrol 5,	39 days
9.	U-552	18 Aug 1941	St. Nazaire	26 Aug 1941	St. Nazaire	Patrol 6,	9 days
10.	U-552	4 Sep 1941	St. Nazaire	5 Oct 1941	St. Nazaire	Patrol 7,	32 days
11.	U-552	25 Oct 1941	St. Nazaire	26 Nov 1941	St. Nazaire	Patrol 8,	33 days
12.	U-552	25 Dec 1941	St. Nazaire	27 Jan 1942	St. Nazaire	Patrol 9,	34 days
13.	U-552	7 Mar 1942	St. Nazaire	27 Apr 1942	St. Nazaire	Patrol 10,	52 days
14.	U-552	9 Jun 1942	St. Nazaire	19 Jun 1942	St. Nazaire	Patrol 11,	11 days
15.	U-552	4 Jul 1942	St. Nazaire	13 Aug 1942	St. Nazaire	Patrol 12,	41 days
12 patrols, 352 days at sea

Ships hit by Erich Topp

Date	U-boat	Commander	Name of ship	Tons		Convoy
17 Jul 1940	U-57	Erich Topp	O.A. Brodin	1,960	sw
17 Jul 1940	U-57	Erich Topp	Manipur	8,652	br	HX-55A
3 Aug 1940	U-57	Erich Topp	Atos	2,161	sw
24 Aug 1940	U-57	Erich Topp	Cumberland	10,939	br	OB-202
24 Aug 1940	U-57	Erich Topp	Havildar (d.)	5,407	br	OB-202
24 Aug 1940	U-57	Erich Topp	Saint Dunstan	5,681	br	OB-202
25 Aug 1940	U-57	Erich Topp	Pecten	7,468	br	HX-65B

1 Mar 1941	U-552	Erich Topp	Cadillac	12,062	br	HX-109
10 Mar 1941	U-552	Erich Topp	Reykjaborg	687	is
27 Apr 1941	U-552	Erich Topp	Commander Horton	227	br
27 Apr 1941	U-552	Erich Topp	Beacon Grange	10,119	br
28 Apr 1941	U-552	Erich Topp	Capulet (d.)	8,190	br	HX-121
1 May 1941	U-552	Erich Topp	Nerissa	5,583	br	HX-121
10 Jun 1941	U-552	Erich Topp	Ainderby	4,860	br
12 Jun 1941	U-552	Erich Topp	Chinese Prince	8,593	br
18 Jun 1941	U-552	Erich Topp	Norfolk	10,948	br
23 Aug 1941	U-552	Erich Topp	Spind	2,129	nw	OG-71
20 Sep 1941	U-552	Erich Topp	T.J. Williams	8,212	br	SC-44
20 Sep 1941	U-552	Erich Topp	Pink Star	4,150	pa	SC-44
20 Sep 1941	U-552	Erich Topp	Barbro	6,325	nw	SC-44
31 Oct 1941	U-552	Erich Topp	USS Reuben James (DD 245)	1,190	am	HX-156

15 Jan 1942	U-552	Erich Topp	Dayrose	4,113	br
18 Jan 1942	U-552	Erich Topp	Frances Salman	2,609	am
20 Jan 1942	U-552	Erich Topp	Maro	3,838	gr	ON-53
25 Mar 1942	U-552	Erich Topp	Ocana	6,256	nl
3 Apr 1942	U-552	Erich Topp	David H. Atwater	2,438	am
5 Apr 1942	U-552	Erich Topp	Byron D. Benson	7,953	am
7 Apr 1942	U-552	Erich Topp	British Splendour	7,138	br
7 Apr 1942	U-552	Erich Topp	Lancing	7,866	nw
9 Apr 1942	U-552	Erich Topp	Atlas	7,137	am
10 Apr 1942	U-552	Erich Topp	Tamaulipas	6,943	am
15 Jun 1942	U-552	Erich Topp	Etrib	1,943	br	HG-84
15 Jun 1942	U-552	Erich Topp	Pelayo	1,346	br	HG-84
15 Jun 1942	U-552	Erich Topp	Slemdal	7,374	nw	HG-84
15 Jun 1942	U-552	Erich Topp	City of Oxford	2,759	br	HG-84
15 Jun 1942	U-552	Erich Topp	Thurso	2,436	br	HG-84
25 Jul 1942	U-552	Erich Topp	British Merit (d.)	8,093	br	ON-113
25 Jul 1942	U-552	Erich Topp	Broompark	5,136	br	ON-113
3 Aug 1942	U-552	Erich Topp	G.S. Walden (d.)	10,627	br	ON-115
3 Aug 1942	U-552	Erich Topp	Lochkatrine	9,419	br	ON-115
				230,967
36 ships sunk (198,650 tons) and 4 ships damaged (32,317 tons). Legend We have a picture of this vessel. (d.) means the ship was damaged.

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.