Stephen Hadley Evans was born on September 7, 1905, at Clinton, Md., and was graduated from Western High School in Washington, D.C., in 1923. He entered the U.S. Coast Guard Academy at New London, Conn., as a cadet in 1924. He was graduated and commissioned an Ensign on March 8, 1927.
Subsequently he advanced in rank to Lieutenant (jg), March 8, 1929; Lieutenant, March 9, 1931; Lieutenant Commander, May 25, 1940; Commander, September 1, 1942; Captain, March 20, 1945; Rear Admiral, March 1, 1957.
He served his first assignment aboard the Destroyer Porter of the New London Division of the Destroyer Force operated by the Coast Guard between 1924 and 1934 in an all out suppression of smuggling. From October 1927 to June 1930, he sailed with the Cutter Apache, based at Baltimore, Md., then transferred to the Cutter Itasca serving out of Honolulu. After completing a series of patrols with the Itasca in the western Pacific and on Bering Sea Patrol in the Alaskan region, he reported to the Cutter Shoshone of San Francisco in February 1932.
From July 1932 to September 1935, he was Communications Officer in the Northwestern Division office at Seattle. In 1934 of this tour he took on the additional duties of Public Relations Officer there. He next became executive officer of the Cutter Nemesis stationed at St. Petersburg, Fla.
World War II and prior
In June 1937, he was assigned to the Coast Guard Academy as an instructor. After the outbreak of World War II (February 1942), he became Reserve Training Officer under the Superintendent of the Academy and received a citation from the Commandant of the Coast Guard for meritorious performance of duty as the organizer and director of the initial phase of the training program for Reserve Officer Candidates.
Reassigned in November 1942, he commanded the Cutter Algonquin on escort convoy duty with the Greenland Patrol In January 1943, he became commander of a Greenland Patrol escort convoy task force group, using alternately as his flagships the Cutters Tampa, Modoc, and Algonquin. Accordingly, he was awarded a Navy Commendation Ribbon for meritorious serve as Commanding Officer of a warship on convoy duty in the Atlantic, and the Legion of Merit with "V" for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services to the Government as an Atlantic Fleet Escort Commander covering the period June 18 to December 2, 1943.
He then became officer-in-charge of the Manning Section of the Coast Guard Training Station at Alameda, Calif., and had the responsibility or organizing and training crews for Coast Guard-manned Navy, Army, and Coast Guard ships ranging from large transports to 255-ft. Coast Guard Cutters, and a number of Army ocean-going tugs and tankers for duty in the Southwest Pacific Ocean area. He was cited by the Commandant of the Coast Guard for meritorious performance of this duty covering the period of January 1944 to December 1945, in which he was credited as carrying through the largest program of assembling, training and assigning personnel to vessels ever undertaken by the Coast Guard.
Completing his tour of duty at Alameda as Commanding Officer of the Training Station and Group in June 1946, he transferred to Coast Guard Headquarters in Washington, D.C., to duty as Chief, Shore Units under the Chief Office of Operations. In July 1951 of this assignment he was ordered to Le Havre, France, Ostend, Belgium, and London, England, to serve as Coast Guard Representative at the Sixth International Lifeboat Conference, and to confer with the British Ministry of Transport on problems concerning maritime safety.
From November 1951 to August 1953, he served as Chief, Operations Division in the Fourteenth Coast Guard District office at Honolulu. After next attending the National War College in Washington, D.C., for a year, he served at Coast Guard Headquarters first as Assistant Chief, Office of Operations from June 1954 to October 1956, then as Deputy Chief of Staff. While in the latter post he received the permanent appointment of Rear Admiral, to rank from March 1, 1957, and in June that year was assigned Commander, Fourteenth Coast Guard District, Honolulu, relieving retiring Rear Admiral Donald E. McKay, USCG.
In March 1960, Rear Admiral Evans assumed the post of Superintendent of the U.S. Coast Guard Academy.
In addition to the Legion of Merit and Commendations, Rear Admiral Evans' World War II campaign and service medals and ribbons include: American Defense Service, American Area, European-African-Middle Eastern Area, World War II Victory. He also has the National Defense Service Ribbon covering the Korean War period.
Rear Admiral Evans is the author of the book, "The United States Coast Guard, 1790-1915; A Definitive History" (published by the U.S. Naval Institute, 1949).
Rear Admiral Evans married Patricia C. K. of Honolulu. They have one daughter, Patricia, the wife of Thomas H. Bell of Charlottesville, Va.