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| Career | |
|---|---|
| Ordered: | |
| Laid down: | 21 April 1944 |
| Launched: | 3 October 1944 |
| Commissioned: | 3 February 1945 |
| Fate: | rammed and sunk |
| Struck: | 1 July 1969 |
| General Characteristics | |
| Displacement: | 3218 tons full, 2200 tons standard |
| Length: | 376.5 feet |
| Beam: | 41.1 feet |
| Draft: | 15.7 feet maximum, 14.2 feet mean |
| Propulsion: | General Electric geared turbines, 60,000 horsepower, two screws |
| Speed: | 36.5 knots |
| Range: | 3300 miles at 20 knots |
| Complement: | 336 officers and men |
| Armament: | six x five-inch/38-caliber in three twin turrets, 12 40mm antiaircraft guns, 11 20mm antiaircraft guns, ten 21-inch torpedo tubes in two banks of five, six depth charge projectors, two depth charge tracks |
USS Frank E. Evans (DD-754), an Allen M. Sumner-class destroyer, was named in honor of a leader of the American Expeditionary Force in France during World War I. Her keel was laid down at the Bethlehem Steel Company of Staten Island, New York. She was launched on 3 October 1944 sponsored by Mrs. Frank E. Evans, widow of General Evans, and commissioned on 3 February 1945 with Commander H. Smith in command.
Frank E. Evans arrived at Pearl Harbor on 18 May 1945 for her final training, and crossed to Eniwetok, Guam, Ulithi, and Okinawa on escort duty. Reaching action waters on 24 June, she was assigned to radar picket and local escort duty, often firing on enemy aircraft. At the close of hostilities, she patrolled the Yellow Sea and the Gulf of Chihili, embarked released Americans from prisoner of war camps near Dairen, Manchuria, covered occupation landings at Jinsen, Korea, and continued to operate in the Far East until 6 March 1946 when she sailed from Tsingtao for San Francisco, California. Immobilized there from 31 March, Evans was decommissioned and placed in reserve 14 December 1949.
Recommissioned 15 September 1950 for duty in the Korean War, Evans sailed from San Diego, California, on 2 January 1951 for duty with the Seventh Fleet. On 26 February she began her part in the lengthy siege of Wonsan, during which she engaged enemy shore batteries eleven times. On 18 June she was struck by 30 shrapnel hits, which caused minor wounds to four of her crew before the destroyer silenced the enemy battery.
During this tour of duty Evans also bombarded targets in the Songjin-Chongjin area, rescued downed aviators, and coordinated and controlled day and night bombing missions by United Nations aircraft. She returned to San Diego on 4 September 1951.
Frank E. Evans sailed on 22 March 1952 for her second Korean tour, serving on patrol and bombardment duty along the coast of Korea and on the Taiwan Patrol before returning to her new home port, Long Beach, California, on 6 November 1952. Her tour in the Far East from 13 June to 20 December 1953 coincided with the Korean armistice, and was devoted primarily to patrol duty.
From 1954 through 1960, Evans completed five tours of duty in the Far East, as well as joining extensive training operations along the west coast and in the Hawaiian Islands, occasionally with Canadian naval ships.
On 3 June, 1969, while operating with the Royal Australian Navy off Luzon, Evans was rammed by HMAS Melbourne and cut in half. Her bow sank instantly, taking 74 of her crew down with it. Evans was stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on 1 July 1969. The stern section was sunk as a target in Subic Bay on 10 October 1969.
Frank E. Evans received one battle star for World War II service, and five for Korean war service.