“Destroyer Captain: The Life of Ernest E. Evans,” by James D. Hornfischer and David J. Hornfischer, tells the story of Ernest Evans, who commanded the destroyer Johnston at the Battle off Samar in October 1944.
It follows Evans from his origins in Oklahoma to his death at the Battle off Samar. Three-quarters Native American, Evans grew up in poverty. He was intelligent, athletic, and ambitious, and to escape small-town life, he enlisted in the Navy in 1926. He was accepted in the U.S. Naval Academy and graduated in 1931.
As a young officer in the 1930s Navy, Evans first tried surface ships, and then tried as a naval aviator before returning to surface warships. He served in the Far East from the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War in 1937 until the 1941 U.S. entry into World War II. In August 1941, he became executive officer of the destroyer USS Alden, serving through the roughest months of the war. He was aboard Alden at the Battle of the Java Sea; it was one of only four U.S. warships that escaped afterward. In October 1943 when the ship was commissioned, Evans became captain of the USS Johnston, a brand-new Fletcher-class destroyer.
The authors describe his year as Johnston’s captain until its sinking off Samar. It reveals Evans to be an outstanding and determined officer. It also shows his actions off Samar, where he took Johnston up against Japanese battleships and cruisers to protect the escort carrier group he was guarding.
“Destroyer Captain” is the first book-length biography of Evans, something long overdue. Evans’s life grabbed James Hornfischer’s attention when he researched his first book, “The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors.” Although the book captured Evans’s heroism at the battle off Samar in the Phillipines, Hornfischer wanted a more complete story of a remarkable naval officer’s career. Hornfischer died before finishing “Destroyer Captain.” David Hornfischer, his father’s assistant since childhood and now a history teacher, saw the book to completion.
Despite publishing only six books over his brief 17-year writing career, James Hornfischer was one of this century’s preeminent naval historians. His career was cut short when he died of cancer in 2021 at 55.
“Destroyer Captain” is a valuable biography of an outstanding officer. Compared to recent naval history books, it is well above average and well worth reading.
