Ernest E. Evans and the Last Stand of USS Samuel B. Roberts

Dec 17 , 2025

Ernest E. Evans and the Last Stand of USS Samuel B. Roberts

Ernest E. Evans stood alone on the bridge of USS Samuel B. Roberts, his ship battered, under fire, shamefully outgunned. The enemy bore down—armored giants meant to carve the American line apart. Yet Evans would not break. Not that day. Not ever.

The Making of a Warrior

Born in 1908 in Ohio, Evans was a man forged by resolve. A career naval officer, he cut his teeth aboard destroyers through peacetime drills and the long shadow of looming war. Duty was his religion, imbued with a fierce integrity that refused shortcuts or hesitation. His faith—quiet but unwavering—seemed to anchor him amid the chaos humanity dealt itself.

The man carried scars no one saw. Years of naval tradition drilled into muscle memory. Yet beneath the steely gaze was a heart burning for his men and the sacred bond of service. Evans understood that leadership meant sacrifice. Not glory. Not medals. But the brutal calculus of who lived to sail home, and who did not.

The Battle That Defined Him

October 25, 1944. The Samuel B. Roberts steamed alongside a handful of escort carriers and destroyers off Samar, Philippines. They were Task Unit 77.4.3, code-named Taffy 3—a ragtag group facing the Imperial Japanese Navy’s Center Force, a fleet vastly superior in firepower and armor.

The encounter was a suicide mission.

Evans grasped this truth with the clarity of a man staring down death. The Japanese battleships and cruisers bore inexorable down upon them. Yet Evans gave the order: full speed ahead. Guns blazing. Torpedoes primed.

Against overwhelming odds, Evans led a ferocious, desperate attack. Maneuvering Samuel B. Roberts closer to the enemy, he unleashed a hellstorm of torpedoes and gunfire. His crew fought like possessed. The destroyer struck the Kuma and crippled the Chōkai, drawing fire away from the vulnerable escort carriers.

Evans stood on the bridge, shouting orders, his voice a lifeline amid the chaos. His ship absorbed shell after shell. Fires erupted. Damage mounted. He refused to yield.

When a catastrophic explosion tore through the Samuel B. Roberts, Evans was mortally wounded. Amid flames and sinking decks, his final acts were those of a leader wholly committed to his crew and mission.

Recognition Born of Blood

Ernest Evans died a hero. The Navy posthumously awarded him the Medal of Honor for "conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity," a fitting tribute to a man who faced death with the grit of a warrior-poet.

“For gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty…” — Medal of Honor Citation, USS Samuel B. Roberts action, 1944[1].

Survivors remembered Evans as a relentless force, a captain who refused to quit even as the sea claimed his ship. One crewmember recalled, "He was the heart that kept the ship beating against impossible odds."

His legacy shattered the myth that victory demands overwhelming power. Sometimes, the fiercest weapon is an unyielding spirit.

Enduring Lessons from a Fallen Commander

Ernest Evans teaches us that courage is not the absence of fear, but the resolve to act in spite of it. Leadership means standing in the eye of the storm when all others seek shelter. And sacrifice—the scarlet price of freedom—is a burden carried by the few so many might live.

The Battle off Samar is etched in history as David facing Goliath. But Vendetta, courage, and selfless leadership wrote the real story.

“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” — Joshua 1:9

Ernest Evans embodied this charge. He left a legacy not just of war, but redemption—that even in destruction, grace rides shotgun with sacrifice.

May his memory remind us: courage and faith are the last refuge in a world at war.

Sources

[1] Naval History and Heritage Command, Medal of Honor Citation for Ernest E. Evans [2] Morison, Samuel Eliot, History of United States Naval Operations in World War II, Vol. XIV: Victory in the Pacific, 1945 [3] Potter, E.B., Sea Power: A Naval History