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Home Town Born in Switzerland, raised in New York
Last Address Naval Hospital in Brooklyn, New York
Date of Passing Mar 07, 1934
Location of Interment Arlington National Cemetery (VLM) - Arlington, Virginia
Franck Taylor Evans Captain, United States Navy
Navy Cross WWI
Captain Franck Taylor Evans, U.S.N., retired, son of Rear Admiral Robley D. (Fighting Bob) Evans. He was a veteran of the Spanish-American and the First World War and retired in 1930 after an adventurous career.
He fought in Battle of Santiago on board the USS Iowa with his father in command.
When President Theodore Roosevelt visited Panama in 1906 Captain Evans acted as his spokesman. In 1908, when his father took the American fleet on its world cruise, Captain Evans was attached to the battleship Louisiana. While the fleet was in San Francisco young Evans was making a slumming tour in the Barbary Coast area when he saw two of his sailors about to be attacked by a gang in a dance hall. He drew his revolver and the roughs fled. A policeman appeared and Evans, who was in civilian clothes, was taken to a police station but later released.
Lieutenant Frank Taylor Evans, was court martialed 18 November 1908. Evans had been in command of President Roosevelt's yacht, the USS Sylph (PY-5), before joining the USS Louisiana. He was charged with "leaving his station on deck without permission, although he declared it was to stop a disturbance below; disrespectful language to a superior officer, and permitting two enlisted men to drink beer in his, Evans's, room." He was sentenced to a public reprimand and reduction of 150 number in rank. Upon the death of his father, Admiral Robley D. Evans on 1/4/12, he was a Lieutenant Commander, commanding torpedo boat destroyer Monaghan at Boston Navy Yard, but no other news article is found on Frank Evans until 18 April 1919 when, as Captain Frank T. Evans, he commanded the Hamburg-American liner Kaiserin Auguste Victoria as the first enemy ship turned over to the U.S. and used to transport troops back to New York.
During the First World War he was awarded the Navy Cross for distinguished service during convoy service, USS May, and later as commander of the Naval Aviation Station at Pauillac, France. He was an officer of the French Legion of Honor and held the Spanish Order of Naval Merit and Efficiency, third class, and the Cross of the Order of the Savior, conferred by the government of Greece. He also held Italian and Japanese decorations. Captain Evans was a member of the Army and Navy Club, the New York Yacht Club, the Loyal Legion and the Military Order of Foreign Wars.
After the World War Captain Evans served with the Pacific Fleet, returning to the Naval Air Station at Lakehurst as commander officer in 1921 and remaining there for three years. He was commander at the Newport Naval Training Station for two years and then went to Europe again, this time in command of the cruiser Pittsburgh. After two years as Captain of the Brooklyn Navy Yard in July, 1929, he took command of the battleship Idaho on the Pacific Coast. He was retired on Sept. 1, 1930, at his own request, after thirty-two years of service.
Other Comments:
During 1925-1926 USS Pittsburgh, ACR-4, was under the command of Captain Franck Taylor Evans, USN. Captain Evans was the son of Rear Admiral Robley D. “Fighting Bob” Evans of Spanish-American War fame. Pittsburgh was relieved of her duties as Flagship European Forces in early summer 1926 and was ordered home to prepare for her next duties. She was to replace her sister ship the USS Huron, then on duty as Flagship, US Asiatic Fleet. Pittsburgh arrived in New York on 17 July 1926 where she under went a refit for her Asiatic duties and her fore stack was removed changing her to a 3-stack design. She was the only ship of her class to be so modified. Gun directors were placed on the bridge just abaft of the mainmast and one large ventilator installed just aft of the bridge area.
The Pittsburgh, under command of Captain Franck Taylor Evans, accomplished what few ships and crews could… that of hoisting both the Gunnery Trophy and the Engineering Trophy at the same time. On September 1, 1926 President Calvin Coolidge awarded to Captain Frank Evans and the Pittsburgh the Gunnery and the Engineering Trophies. While the Pittsburgh was at the Brooklyn Navy Yard on September 1 she hoisted the Battle Efficiency Pennant, something that few ships of the line have accomplished.
New Mexico Class Battleship: Displacement 32,000 Tons, Dimensions, 624' (oa) x 97' 5" x 31' 1" (Max). Armament 12 x 14"/50 22 x 5"/51, 8 x 3"/50 2 x 21" tt. Armor, 13 1/2" Belt, 18" Turrets, 3 1/2" +2" Decks, 16" Conning Tower. Machinery, 32,000 SHP; Geared Turbines, 4 screws. Speed, 21 Knots, Crew 1084.
Operational and Building Data: Laid down by New York Shipbuilding, Camden, N.J., April 5, 1915. Launched January 25, 1917. Commissioned March 24 1919.
Fate: Decommissioned 3 July, 1946 and was placed in reserve until sold for scrap 24 November, 1947 to Lipsett Inc., of New York City.
After the World War Captain Evans served with the Pacific Fleet, returning to the Naval Air Station at Lakehurst as commander in 1921 and remaining there for three years. He was commander at the Newport Naval Training Station for two years and then went to Europe again, this time in command of the cruiser Pittsburgh. After two years as Captain of the Brooklyn Navy Yard in July, 1929, he took command of the battleship Idaho on the Pacific Coast. He was retired on Sept. 1, 1930, at his own request, after thirty-two years of service.
