Erich Topp 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 ( ) . 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 . 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 . 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 ) . 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 Bundesmarine