from here:ww2db/index.php Ernest Evans Born 13 Aug 1908 Died 25 Oct 1944 Nationality United States Category Sea Ernest Edwin Evans was born in Pawnee, Oklahoma, United States. He was 75% Cherokee in ethnicity. He originally dreamed to be a Marine officer, but he entered the Navy instead in May 1926 after performing well in the fleet competition. At the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland, he was nicknamed Chief by his classmates, partially due to his heritage and partially due to his leadership capabilities. Evans appreciated the hidden nature of things, the power of the unseen over the tangible, said author Jim Hornfischer. When WW2 began, he served aboard the destroyer Alden and participated in the Battle of the Java Sea in Feb 1942 Two weeks after the Java Sea battle, he assumed command of Alden. On 27 Oct 1943, he was given commission of the destroyer Johnston. This is going to be a fighting ship, he said during the commissioning ceremony. I intend to go in harms way, and anyone who doesnt want to go along had better get off right now. He later added [n]ow that I have a fighting ship, I will never retreat from an enemy force. On 15 May 1944, under Evans directions, Johnston sank the Japanese submarine I-176 by depth charges off Bougainville, Solomon Islands, and was later awarded a Bronze Star for the action. The successful hunt had a lot to do with his ability to trust his crew to get the job done. He expected every man to do his job without any psychological ploys, recalled Lieutenant (jg) Ellsworth Welch, Evans anti-submarine warfare officer aboard Johnston. He had great faith in all of us, said Johnstons gunnery officer Lieutenant Robert C. Hagen, I dont recall him saying a mean word to me the whole time.... The captain was a true, instinctive fighter.... We were on a high-class ship because the captain was high-class. On 25 Oct 1944, during the Battle off Samar, Johnston was among the ships that laid smoke to protect the escort carriers caught in the open by heavier Japanese warships led by Vice Admiral Kurita. Not waiting for orders, Evans gave the order to go on the offensive. Johnston was lucky that the Japanese missed all attempts to hit her with gunfire, giving her an opportunity to return fire with 200 shells on cruiser Kumano with her small 5-inch guns. When she was closer, she fired 10 torpedoes, then immediately retreated from the engagement. At least one of the torpedoes hit Kumano, blowing off her bow. After receiving hits from Japanese warships, Evans was wounded by shrapnel, losing two fingers on his left hand. At 0750, orders came down for the destroyers to make a torpedo run. Although Johnston had already used all her torpedoes and one of the engines had been lost, Evans ordered her in anyway as a means to provide fire support and to draw fire from the ships that still had torpedoes. At 0820, Johnston came within 7,000 yards from a Japanese battleship, and the guns fired 30 rounds within a minute, hitting the Japanese battleship several times. Then, she headed toward a heavy cruiser that had been attacking the escort carrier Gambier Bay, attempting to draw fire to save the escort carrier. After exchanging fire with the heavy cruiser, she took on an entire Japanese destroyer squadron that was on a torpedo run; Johnstons persistent attack forced the squadron to fire their torpedoes early, which was a major reason why all these torpedoes went astray. However, this final attack run against an entire destroyer squadron was also Johnstons last. After a shot hit her number one boiler room, steam was cut to the lone remaining engine, leaving her dead in the water. At around 0940, Japanese ships poured shells into Johnston as they sailed in semi-circles around the ship. A hit knocked out the forward gun, and then another hit on the 40-mm ready ammunition locker left the already damaged bridge totally untenable. At 0945, Evans gave the order for the crew of Johnston to abandon ship. The destroyer was now a gruesome scene of death. Lieutenant Jesse Cochran, a survivor of Johnston, later recalled seeing a pile of people - bodies - half alive, half dead on the deck. At 1010, she rolled over and began to sink by the bow. Evans was last seen around this time, with Machinists Mate Bob Sochor probably the last man to have done so. Having just re-gained consciousness after a shell blast, he ran for the fantail after realizing the abandon ship order had already been given. He ran across Evans en route, with neither one of them speaking a word in each other. We passed by staring blankly at one another, recalled Sochor. It was not certain whether he was killed on the ship. Survivor Allen Johnson saw an officer dive into the water for a motor whaleboat, while others said they saw Evans climb into the whaleboat; however, none of them could make positive identification during the chaos. What was certain was that he was not among those rescued. Evans was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for bravery during the Battle off Samar. The citation read: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty as commanding officer of the U.S.S. Johnston in action against major units of the enemy Japanese fleet during the battle off Samar on 25 October 1944. The first to lay a smokescreen and to open fire as an enemy task force, vastly superior in number, firepower and armor, rapidly approached. Comdr. Evans gallantly diverted the powerful blasts of hostile guns from the lightly armed and armored carriers under his protection, launching the first torpedo attack when the Johnston came under straddling Japanese shellfire. Undaunted by damage sustained under the terrific volume of fire, he unhesitatingly joined others of his group to provide fire support during subsequent torpedo attacks against the Japanese and, outshooting and outmaneuvering the enemy as he consistently interposed his vessel between the hostile fleet units and our carriers despite the crippling loss of engine power and communications with steering aft, shifted command to the fantail, shouted steering orders through an open hatch to men turning the rudder by hand and battled furiously until the Johnston, burning and shuddering from a mortal blow, lay dead in the water after 3 hours of fierce combat. Seriously wounded early in the engagement, Comdr. Evans, by his indomitable courage and brilliant professional skill, aided materially in turning back the enemy during a critical phase of the action. His valiant fighting spirit throughout this historic battle will venture as an inspiration to all who served with him. In 1955, the destroyer escort Evans was named in his honor.
Posted on: Sat, 25 Oct 2014 20:34:20 +0000
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