27 Apr Daily Shipmate

Monday, 27 April 2026

1861 - President Abraham Lincoln extends the Union blockade to cover ports in North Carolina and Virginia, while the Secretary of the Navy orders Union ships to seize Confederate privateers they encounter.

 

1968 - LT James Roberts ’64, USN was lost when the aircraft he was flying crashed in a landing accident aboard USS Constellation (CVA 64) off the coast of Southern California. (His radar intercept officer, LT William Mayhew, survived. In August 1968 William was shot down over Vietnam and held as a prisoner of war until March 1973.) James had previously served in Vietnam, completing over 100 combat missions before returning to the United States in December 1967. James was a native of Nebraska, and attended the University of Nebraska for a year before the Naval Academy. At the Academy he was Commander of the 17th Company, member of the Fourth Battalion Staff, and served on the Brigade Honor Committee. At the time of his death, he was the secretary of the Class of 1964. James was survived by his parents, brother and two sisters.

 

Content in “Today in Navy, Marine Corps and USNA Memorial Hall History” is generously provided by our partners and fellow alumni at the Naval History and Heritage Command and the Run to Honor SIG, which supplies the USNA Memorial Hall content. We are grateful for their partnership in preserving and sharing this history, and the Daily Shipmate is proud to serve as a distribution platform. You can learn more or provide feedback through their respective websites hyperlinked above.

Academy & Graduate happenings

The class with the greatest participation! The U.S. Naval Academy Foundation invites alumni to take part in the Great Class Challenge 2026, an annual effort that brings classes together to support the Brigade of Midshipmen through broad‑based participation—and a little healthy rivalry. The Challenge celebrates class pride, connection and collective impact. Every gift—regardless of size—counts equally toward class participation totals, because when it comes to this Challenge, all hands matter.

Our Engagement team participated in two back‑to‑back roadshows in Salt Lake City on Wednesday and Albuquerque on Thursday, bringing alumni and parents together for energetic and well‑attended gatherings that continued to build national momentum. And the Alumni Association Roadshow concluded over the weekend as EVP TJ Grady ’96 and Executive Director of Engagement Nancy Murray visited Tucson, Prescott, and Scottsdale to meet with passionate alumni and parents eager to strengthen their connection to one another and to the Naval Academy. Across all three Arizona gatherings and throughout the broader Southwest tour, the same message resonated: when chapters and parent clubs work together, the entire Naval Academy family is stronger. These partnerships are strengthening ties to today’s midshipmen, deepening understanding of life in the fleet, and building vibrant local communities grounded in friendship and support. Strong chapters and parent clubs create meaningful social connections while also serving as trusted networks for career guidance, mentorship, and shared experiences, exemplifying what makes the USNA community so special. Since January 2024, the roadshow has visited 78 chapters and 51 parent clubs nationwide. A visit to the San Antonio area is planned in the coming months, along with virtual roadshows for international chapters and select parent clubs this summer, as the Alumni Association continues its goal of meeting with every chapter and parent club by spring 2027. As the roadshow continues, these visits reaffirm our commitment to strengthening local alumni and parent communities and ensuring every alum, family member, and friend of the Naval Academy has a place to connect, contribute, and belong. As one of our AZ Chapter members said this weekend, “It reminds us that we are not a standalone group that meets for beer, football and relived glory days, but that we are part of something bigger and more relevant than ourselves. It also reinvigorates our members and raises morale in a kind of way.”

 

Not a member of your local chapter or parent club? Find one near you at the link below.

Nose guard Landon Robinson ’26 and running back / wide receiver Eli Heidenreich ’26 became the first Navy duo to be drafted in the same NFL draft since 1956 (George Welsh ’56 and Ronald Beagle ’56 by the Chicago Cardinals) and just the second duo in program history when they were selected four picks apart Saturday afternoon in the annual NFL draft in Pittsburgh. Both picks came in storybook fashion. Robinson, a native of Akron, Ohio, was selected by his home-state Cincinnati Bengals in the seventh round with the 226th overall pick. The selection was announced by the Pat Tillman Foundation. Tillman was drafted with the 226th pick by the Arizona Cardinals in 1998. Tillman later left the NFL to enlist in the U.S. Army after the 9/11 attacks. He served as an Army Ranger in Iraq and Afghanistan before dying in Afghanistan in 2004.

Watch Darragh ’16 announce the Bengals’ pick of Landon Robinson ’26

Wednesday, 22 April 2026 was the 24th anniversary of the day former Arizona Cardinals safety Pat Tillman lost his life because of friendly fire in the mountains of Afghanistan. Saturday, near the end of the 2026 NFL Draft in Pittsburgh, the NFL continued a recent tradition of honoring the spot where Tillman was selected in the 1998 draft: 226 overall in the seventh round. Margo Darragh ’16, who became a Tillman Scholar in 2022, announced the Cincinnati Bengals choice, which ironically was her fellow Naval Academy alum Landon Robinson ’26. Darragh is a Pittsburgh-area native and graduated from the Naval Academy in 2016.

“I will strive to make knowledge of the law more accessible, empowering the American people and uplifting our communities in the just pursuit of truth.” Margo Darragh grew up in a small town just outside of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 2016, where she served as the Brigade Commander. She served in the Marine Corps as a Combat Engineer Officer for six years, deploying to Southeast Asia as a platoon commander. Her leadership and expertise were further demonstrated as a tactics instructor for new Marine Corps officers at Quantico, where she shaped the next generation of leaders. Darragh is currently in her third year at Yale Law School, where she continues to build on her commitment to public service. She has gained valuable experience through internships at the United States Attorney’s Office in Philadelphia and Rathod Mohamedbhai LLC, a prominent civil rights firm in Denver.

From the Podcast Fleet

After serving as Plebe Summer Regimental Commander and speaking with countless incoming plebes, host Grant Vermeer realized many are asking the wrong questions—just like he did. High achievers often focus on performance metrics, but true success at Annapolis isn’t about speed, strength or perfect rates. Vermeer says, “It’s about humility. This episode reframes what it means to be a “good” plebe and highlights the mindset shift that helps midshipmen thrive rather than simply survive. Listen, share, and reach out with questions. I’m rooting for you.”

Government & Military News

Acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao ‘96 on Saturday vowed to build ships after his predecessor, John Phelan, was fired this week amid President Trump’s push for accelerated shipbuilding. Cao posted a video to social media listing his priorities to service members in the Navy, starting off with taking “care of your needs and make sure you can do the mission.” “Second, is we’re going to build ships,” Cao continued. “We need the platforms we need in order to defend this country. And finally, it’s to defend the homeland. Our mission has not changed and we’re going to keep driving on with the mission.”

For the first time in more than two decades there are three aircraft carriers, along with hundreds of Navy aircraft and thousands of sailors and Marines, deployed to the Middle East, U.S. officials said Friday. The arrival of USS George H.W. Bush Thursday in the Indian Ocean concentrates the most U.S. carrier firepower in the region seen in some 23 years, U.S. Central Command said in a post on social media platform X. USS Gerald R. Ford is operating in the Red Sea and USS Abraham Lincoln is on station in the Arabian Sea. The last time the U.S. had three aircraft carriers in the area was during the U.S.-led Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003, according to the post. In that conflict, there were five Navy carriers in the Middle East, according to Steven Wills, an analyst with the Center for Maritime Strategy at the Navy League of the United States.

Remains of USS Arizona crew buried as unknowns after Pearl Harbor to be identified

The Navy and the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) have reversed their earlier opposition and will now allow the disinterment and identification of remains from 85 unknown USS Arizona crew members buried at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific (“the Punchbowl”). This shift became possible after the advocacy group Operation 85, led by Kevin Kline—a relative of one of the fallen sailors—successfully gathered DNA reference samples from at least 60% of the families connected to those unidentified remains, meeting the threshold required for DPAA to proceed. This decision opens the door for long-awaited closure for families who have lived for more than eight decades without knowing the fate of their relatives. It also marks a significant shift in how the military approaches historical remains and family-driven identification efforts.

Local, Education & other academy news

The Founders Day celebration held in March by the West Point Society of Northern Shenandoah bridged not only older and younger members of the Long Gray Line but unified servicemembers across all branches of military service through the inspiring words of an uncommon keynote speaker for a West Point Society: A graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy. “The value of this education—whether it was forged on the Hudson or on the Severn—isn’t that it gives you all the answers. It’s that it shapes how you show up when the answers aren’t obvious,” said David Cattler ’93, a 1993 graduate of USNA, before an audience of about 60 guests at the Inn at Charles Town Races in Charles Town, WV. “Service academies don’t actually train you for your first job,” Cattler continued. “They train you for moments of consequence….moments where the conditions are unclear, the information is incomplete, and the responsibility is unmistakably yours.”

 

MANTECH recently won a prime position on a 7-year, $875 million contract with a key intelligence agency to provide full-spectrum cyber solutions to support computer network operations work that helps keep Americans safe. And while Chris Cleary ’96 said he can’t take credit for this win as it was an all-of-MANTECH effort, the win is a testament to the company’s elite qualifications and reputation in cybersecurity within the intelligence community. Plus, it exemplifies why he chose to continue his career at MANTECH following his service as principal cyber advisor to the U.S. Navy.

Please mark your calendar and stop by and listen to a presentation in support of the USNA Trident Scholars! Each year a small group of USNA's brightest students work alongside their dedicated faculty mentors, to tackle open ended problems -- often akin to graduate-student level research. This year’s Trident Scholars explored the far reaches of the universe, the complexities of the human body and mind, the evolution of aerial warfare, the mysteries of laser light, and the dynamics of the maritime environment, among other topics.

 

Date: Friday, 24 April 2026

Time: 7:45 a.m. - 3:40 p.m.

Location: Rickover 102 (and live streamed on YouTube)

Presentations are typically 25 minutes long. Presentation topics and times are listed below:

The U.S. Air Force Academy is relocating select statues and memorials from the Honor Court outside Harmon Hall to new locations across the installation ahead of the opening of the Hosmer Visitor Center in May. The repositioning places several memorials in the Air Garden on the Terrazzo, where cadets will encounter them in daily spaces, while others are being installed on the grounds surrounding the Hosmer Visitor Center just outside the North Gate to improve visibility for the public.

Naval Academy Athletics News & Results

The second-ranked Navy men's rugby (11-1) team erased a 21-0 deficit to defeat fourth-ranked Life (13-3) 35-21 in Saturday's Collegiate Rugby Association of America (CRAA) DI-A Semifinals at the Prusmack Rugby Center in Annapolis. The Midshipmen scored 35-unanswered second-half points to secure their third trip to the national championship in four years. "Three national championships appearances in four years says something very significant about this program and we couldn't be happier," director of rugby Gavin Hickie said. "This senior class is special. They were freshman when we won the first national championship and every one of them stepped up and displayed their leadership today." Roanin Krieger led the Midshipmen with 10 points, going 5-5 on conversion kicks. Five different Navy players scored a try to balance the dominant second-half offensive attack.

Yesterday's results:

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