Erich Topp
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Erich Topp (b. 2 July 1914 in Hanover - 26 December 2005, in Hanover) was the 3rd most successful German U-Boot (submarine) commander of World War II. [1] He 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 the same year.
He was given his first command – U-57 – on 5 June 1940, leading her 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.
Topp survived to take command of U-552, with which he mainly operated 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 WWII on 31 October 1941.
In October 1942 he was given command of the 27th Unterseeboot-Flotille (submarine flotilla), based in Gotenhafen (now Gdynia, Poland), which put him in charge of introducing the new Type XXI boats to active service.
Shortly before the end of the war, he took command of U-2513, on which he surrendered on 8 May 1945, in Norway to the British forces.
After the war, he eventually rejoined the Bundesmarine (Federal German Navy), reaching the rank of Konteradmiral (Two star Rear Admiral) before retiring in 1969.
He died on 26 December 2005, in Hanover at the age of 91.
See also: Aces of the Deep
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