1. Erich Topp was a German U-boat commander of World War II.
33 Facts About Erich Topp
1. 2.
Erich Topp was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords of Nazi Germany.
3.
Erich Topp was then transferred to the school ship Gorch Fock on 14 June 1934, and to the light cruiser Karlsruhe on 27 September 1934.
4.
Under the command of Kapitan zur See Gunther Lutjens, Topp sailed on Karlsruhes fourth training cruise.
5.
On 5 October 1937, Erich Topp started his U-boat training at the U-boat school in Neustadt in Holstein and then became instruction officer.
6.
Erich Topp was then posted to the Wegener Flotilla on 26 September 1938.
7.
On 1 April 1939, Erich Topp was promoted to Oberleutnant zur See.
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Martin Bormann 8.
In May 1933, Erich Topp joined the Nazi Party and in 1934 joined the Allgemeine-SS.
9.
Erich Topp made the acquaintance of Martin Bormann, Hitler's personal secretary and head of the Nazi Party Chancellery.
10.
Erich Topp was close enough to be invited to Bormann's residence in Berchtesgaden.
11.
Erich Topp came to terms with the Nazi regime and its crimes postwar.
12.
Erich Topp entered into heated arguments with former comrades over the cause for which they fought.
13.
Erich Topp was particularly critical of Admiral Karl Donitz, commander-in-chief of U-boats and later the Kriegsmarine.
14.
Erich Topp referenced Donitz's commitment to National Socialism, admiration for Hitler, and his presence at the Posen speeches.
15.
Erich Topp was critical of Donitz's pretensions to have been an apolitical soldier.
16.
Erich Topp sailed on three further patrols on U-46.
17.
Again, Erich Topp led U-57 into the North Atlantic, the North Channel, and the Hebrides.
18.
On 4 December 1940, Erich Topp took command of U-552 and commissioned the U-boat into the 7th U-boat Flotilla.
19.
Erich Topp experienced the same problems in the sinking of Frances Salman, five miles south of Cape Race.
20.
Erich Topp was the 87th member of the Wehrmacht to be so honoured.
21.
Erich Topp formed part of a strong wolf pack against Convoy HG 84.
22.
Erich Topp engaged the convoy 400 nautical miles west-northwest of A Coruna.
23.
Erich Topp was the 17th member of the Wehrmacht to be so honored.
24.
Erich Topp served as technical advisor for the 1957 film Sharks and Little Fish.
25.
On 3 March 1958, Erich Topp joined West Germany's navy, at the time named the Bundesmarine, holding the rank of Fregattenkapitan.
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Martin Bormann 26.
On 1 January 1962, Erich Topp was transferred to the position of commander of the Bundesmarines Amphibische Streitkrafte, a position he held until 30 September 1963.
27.
Erich Topp was then appointed chief-of-staff of the Flottenkommando on 1 October 1963.
28.
On 1 October 1966, Erich Topp was named deputy Inspector of the Navy and at the same time became the chief of the Fuhrungsstab der Marine in the Federal Ministry of Defence.
29.
Erich Topp then continued to serve with Inspector of the Navy until his retirement on 31 December 1969.
30.
In 1968, Erich Topp had been considered as head of the Plans and Policy department with the Allied Forces Northern Europe in Kolsas, Norway which at the time was headed by the German Konteradmiral Heinrich Erdmann.
31.
Erich Topp had privately penned the piece about their friendship on his next patrol to the East Coast of America, but had never submitted it for publication.
32.
Savas recruited Erich Topp to serve as the technical adviser for the 2001 submarine simulation computer game Silent Hunter II, and a series of interviews with him appears in the game.
33.
Erich Topp 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.