The second U-BootFahrer to win the KNIGHTS CROSS with OAK LEAVES & CROSSED SWORDS was K.K. ERICH TOPP (118-LIFE-1985)

ERICH commanded U-57, U-552 and U-2513 and was the third most successful submarine Skipper of World War II. He sank USS REUBEN JAMES, the first American warship (in error) more than one month before the US was in the war.

ERICH won his KNIGHTS CROSS on 20 June 1941, his OAK LEAVES on 11 April 1942 and his CROSSED SWORDS on 17 August 1942. He was the 10th U-BootFahrer to win his OAK LEAVES and the 87th in the Wehrmacht; was the 2 U-BootFahrer to win his CROSSED SWORDS and the 17th in the Wehrmacht.

TOPP was most famous for his exploits with U-552 and although all three of his boats carried the twin ‘DANCING RED DEVILS’ on the conning tower, U-552 is most commonly thought of as the ‘RED DEVIL BOOT’. Altogether, he sailed on eighteen war patrols - an almost unheard of feat in World War Two and he sank 35 ships with a total tonnage of nearly 200,000 tons. He became Skipper of a Flottille in Gotenhafen training men with the TYPE XXI and XXIII boats.

In the closing moments of the war, when all the top Skippers were being placed back in command of TYPE XXI ‘ELECTRO-BOOTS’, TOPP was given command of U-2513. The war ended before any of these boats could get into combat and U-2513 was surrendered at Horton in May of 1945. She was brought to the US for training American submariners and ASW sailors; was sunk as a target by a destroyer off the Dry Tortugas in about 220 feet of water on 7 October 1951.