How Ernest E. Evans Saved Carriers at the Battle off Samar

Feb 07 , 2026

How Ernest E. Evans Saved Carriers at the Battle off Samar

Ernest E. Evans stood on the bridge of the USS Samuel B. Roberts, eyes fixed on a horizon bruised by war. Japanese destroyers and cruisers loomed—vast, deadly, relentless. Against an enemy force almost ten times their size, Evans made a razor-sharp choice: fight like hell or die trying.

Blood and Faith in the Ship’s Wheel

Born in Missouri in 1908, Evans carried the grit of the Heartland in his bones. Before the war, he was no stranger to hard work, discipline, and the quiet strength of Midwest values. The Navy molded him, but faith shaped him deeper.

“The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?” (Psalm 27:1). A verse he lived by in the hellfire of the Pacific. Evans held tight to a warrior’s code—not just about fighting, but about duty, honor, and protecting the men who trusted him with their lives.

His leadership was forged in the years before conflict boiled over. A career naval officer, rising through the ranks, Evans wasn’t just a commander. He was a rock for men who needed sure footing in the abyss.

The Battle That Defined Him

October 25, 1944 — the greatest underdog story from the mud and blood of WWII Pacific clashes. The Battle off Samar, part of the larger Leyte Gulf fight, was doomed to be a massacre.

The Samuel B. Roberts was a John C. Butler-class destroyer escort, small and lightly armed compared to the Japanese Center Force—battleships, cruisers, and destroyers with guns that dwarfed anything Evans could hide behind. But those numbers, that firepower? They didn’t break him.

When Vice Admiral Kurita’s mighty force slammed into the escort carriers and their destroyer screens, Evans’s Roberts leapt into the gap. With guns blazing and engines screaming, he drove straight into the Japanese fleet like a battering ram.

He closed the distance under heavy fire, launching torpedoes and trading hits until the Roberts was battered and burning. His ship’s antiaircraft crews fought through the smoke. Evans refused to withdraw. He pressed every advantage, daring the enemy to focus on him.

His attack disrupted the Japanese advance, bought critical time for the carriers to escape. When a 14-inch shell struck near the bridge, killing Evans instantly, his crew carried on the fight.

“He gave his life that others might live.”

— Citation for the Medal of Honor

Medal of Honor: Valor Written in Blood

Evans posthumously received the Medal of Honor—America’s highest tribute to combat bravery. The citation highlighted his fearless and selfless leadership, calling him “an indomitable spirit” that turned certain annihilation into a hard-won survival.

His actions earned the respect and awe of sailors and officers alike. Lieutenant Commander Robert Copeland, another hero from Samar, reportedly said of Evans:

“Ernest Evans didn’t just command; he inspired. His courage made us believe even the impossible was possible.”

Lessons Carved in Steel and Fire

Ernest Evans teaches the raw truth about war: leadership in battle isn't just tactics and orders. It’s sacrifice—stepping into the storm, knowing the odds, and standing firm for your brothers.

His story breaks the soldier’s loneliness with faith welded into resolve. To fight with God’s light behind your glance is not weakness but pure steel.

“Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” (John 15:13). Evans answered that call with every breath, until his last.

His legacy is a battle hymn for the broken and brave, reminding us all that courage is born in fire—and purpose in sacrifice.

When the smoke clears, what remains is not just the scars or medals, but the courage to stand, to shield, and to fight for the fragile light of life itself.

Sources

1. Naval History and Heritage Command, USS Samuel B. Roberts (DE-413) Action Report October 25, 1944 2. United States Army Center of Military History, Leyte Gulf: The Largest Naval Battle of World War II 3. James D. Hornfischer, The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors (Dutton, 2004) 4. Medal of Honor Citation, Ernest E. Evans, U.S. Navy Archives