Ernest E. Evans and the USS Johnston's Last Stand at Samar

Dec 27 , 2025

Ernest E. Evans and the USS Johnston's Last Stand at Samar

Ernest Evans stared down the barrel of annihilation. His ship, the USS Johnston, bruised but alive, faced a storm of enemy steel and flame—Japanese battleships, cruisers, and destroyers three times his size. There was no retreat. No surrender. Just a captain, his crew, and a fight that would carve their names into the blood-soaked pages of history.

Raised for Battle

Born in 1908, Ernest E. Evans grew up in the grit and grind of Nebraska. A Midwestern farm boy turned Naval officer, he understood hard work and loyalty—values etched deep like scars no enemy shell could erase. Faith stitched through his life quietly, a steady beacon amid chaos. He held fast to the warrior’s code: protect the men, stand your ground, shoulder the burden of command without flinching.

“Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” — Joshua 1:9

Evans carried this in his heart. He knew battle was more than tactics; it was soul tested under fire.

The Battle That Defined Him

October 25, 1944, waters off Samar Island, Philippines. Task Unit 77.4.3, known famously as “Taffy 3,” was a lightly armored escort carrier group, supposed to shield the landing forces for the Allied invasion of Leyte. Instead, they met the Japanese Center Force under Vice Admiral Takeo Kurita—12 battleships, 8 cruisers, 11 destroyers.

Evans commanded the USS Johnston (DD-557), a Fletcher-class destroyer, a 2,100-ton warship facing behemoths like the Yamato, the largest battleship ever built. The Johnston’s guns were mere mosquito bites against steel dragons.

Evans’s orders: stop the Japanese advance. His response was razor-sharp and unyielding.

The Johnston charged. Guns blazing, smoke and fire curtain thick in the rain, Evans maneuvered within 4,000 yards of the enemy's battleships to launch torpedoes. His was a desperate, near-suicidal gambit. But it worked.

He sank the heavy cruiser Kumano, seriously damaged two other cruisers, and drew their attention away from the escort carriers.

“Evans never hesitated. His courage was contempt for death.” — Admiral Chester W. Nimitz

Even as his ship took hits, fires raged across the deck; the Johnston fought on. Engine rooms flooded, guns silenced one by one. Evans stayed on the bridge until the last, issuing orders, rallying his crew.

When the Johnston finally sank, Evans was last seen urging men overboard. He went down with his ship.

The Honors Paid in Blood

Posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor, Evans’s citation captured the savage honor of that day:

“For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty... launching torpedo attacks in the face of overwhelming odds... inspiring his men to defeat a superior enemy.”

His leadership delayed the Japanese fleet long enough to save the crippled escort carriers. The Battle off Samar turned the tide, proving the heart of a warrior eclipses metal and numbers.

Fellow officers called Evans a “legend among naval heroes.” Captain Samuel Gravely, one of the few surviving African American officers in WWII, said:

“Ernest Evans fought like a demon with a sailor’s soul, reckless but calculated—he made sure none walked forward fearing death.”

Legacy Etched in Salt and Fire

Evans’s sacrifice was not in vain. The courage displayed at Samar reminded all who follow: valor is the voice of the broken and the brave. The Johnston’s fight stands as a testament to the grit needed when the odds are grave and the cause is just.

“Do not fear their threats; do not be frightened.” — Psalm 91:5

His story is a sermon in steel and saltwater—the call to stand when all crumble, to bear the weight of command without faltering, to fight so others might live.

For today’s veterans carrying invisible wounds, Ernest Evans’s life is a reminder: your scars are the map of survival. Your sacrifice—the covenant for freedom’s cost.

Beneath the endless sky, on a restless sea, a destroyer captain gave his all. He was lost, but never forgotten. His blood waters the roots of courage—so that others might stand when darkness comes again.

That is the legacy of Ernest E. Evans.

And in his shadow, we find our own strength to fight on.

Sources

1. Naval History and Heritage Command, USS Johnston (DD-557) - Action Report, Battle off Samar, October 25, 1944 2. United States Army Center of Military History, Medal of Honor Citation: Ernest E. Evans 3. Morison, Samuel Eliot, History of United States Naval Operations in World War II, Vol. 12: Leyte, June 1944-January 1945 4. Nimitz, Chester W., Personal Correspondence and Official Reports 5. Gravely, Samuel L., Jr., Oral History Interview, United States Naval Institute