Commander Ernest E. Evans and the Stand of Samuel B. Roberts

Feb 06 , 2026

Commander Ernest E. Evans and the Stand of Samuel B. Roberts

Smoke chokes the dawn. The enemy fleet looms—battleships, cruisers, destroyers, like a steel wall ready to crush us. Through the haze, USS Samuel B. Roberts presses forward. Commander Ernest E. Evans stands on the bridge, eyes burning, heart pounding. His order: attack. No chance. No mercy.

The Warrior from Oklahoma

Ernest Edwin Evans grew up in Pawnee, Oklahoma—a heartland boy forged by hard soil and steady values. A product of the American heartland, Evans believed in duty, faith, and the unyielding grit of sacrifice. His Navy career was marked by quiet determination, not for glory but for honor.

A devout Christian, Evans carried scripture with him. The lines from 2 Timothy 4:7 echoed in his soul: “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith.” This was a man who believed that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it.

The Battle That Defined Him

October 25, 1944. The Philippine Sea, near Samar Island.

Evans commanded the Samuel B. Roberts (DE-413), a destroyer escort barely suited for fleet action, facing a Japanese armada that made the film reels of hell look tame. The powerful Center Force under Vice Admiral Takeo Kurita included battleships Yamato, Nagato, heavy cruisers, and dozens of destroyers. This was David versus Goliath, with a broken slingshot.

Evans knew the stakes. The escort carriers behind him were slow, vulnerable, the last bulwark between the enemy and Leyte Gulf, home to the Allied invasion.

Instead of retreat, Evans did the unthinkable: he charged headlong into the vortex.

At dawn, Samuel B. Roberts fired her guns, closing to 4000 yards against cruisers far larger and better armed. Shells whistled past, and yet, Evans held the line. His crew manned every position with desperate precision, every volley hammering the enemy lines, buying time for the carriers to escape.

“I intend to go down with my ship,” he reportedly said—words not of despair, but iron resolve. Against overwhelming odds, he rammed a cruiser, evaded torpedoes, and unleashed everything Samuel B. Roberts had. Two torpedoes struck the Roberts, and the ship began to sink into the sea’s black wake.

Evans, wounded but unyielding, refused to abandon ship. His final moments were marked by the grim acceptance of sacrifice—for the men behind him and the mission ahead.

Honors Earned in Blood

Commander Ernest E. Evans posthumously received the Medal of Honor—the nation’s highest tribute for valor.

The citation reads:

“For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty... Leading his destroyer escort in the face of a vastly superior Japanese force, Commander Evans demonstrated extraordinary bravery and tenacity in protecting his task unit.”

Comrades who lived to tell remember him as “a leader who never wavered,” whose steely calm under fire inspired men to fight like heroes. Admiral Clifton Sprague, who commanded the escort carrier group, called Evans’s stand “the single greatest act of valor in naval history.”[1]

Legacy Writ in Courage and Faith

The name Samuel B. Roberts became a legend—a symbol of how raw courage, faith, and sacrifice can turn the tide against impossible odds.

Evans’s story is carved in steel and soul. His actions saved a thousand lives, entire naval task forces, and the Allied foothold in the Pacific. Beyond tactics, beyond strategy, his stands remind us that true leadership demands the willingness to die for others.

His legacy lives beyond medals and ships. It whispers in every veteran who hears the call to stand when survival screams retreat. It humbles every civilian who wonders what bravery truly costs.

We live in a world quick to forget the weight of sacrifice. Commander Ernest E. Evans faced annihilation not with despair, but with faith forged in battle.

“Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” —John 15:13

May his story ignite the embers of courage in every soul who bears scars, visible or hidden. Fight the good fight. Finish the course. Keep the faith.

Sources

1. Naval History and Heritage Command, Samuel B. Roberts (DE-413), Medal of Honor Citation for Ernest E. Evans 2. Morison, Samuel Eliot, History of United States Naval Operations in World War II: Leyte 3. C. E. Sprague, After Action Report, Task Unit 77.4.3 (Taffy 3), 1944