Evans served at sea in the navy from 1804, when he was 14, until the Napoleonic Wars ended in 1815.

Evans is known for inventing tri-coloured lighting on naval vessels designed to prevent collisions at night.

For this invention he was awarded £1500 by the British government and a gold chronometer and £200 from the Tsar of Russia.

[2] According to GM Andrew Soltis, Evans was "the first player to be widely honored for an opening we know he played".

This biographical article relating to a British chess figure is a stub.