USS Abraham Lincoln Returns After Longest Navy Deployment

The USS Abraham Lincoln is returning to its home port in San Diego after 272 consecutive days at sea, the longest deployment in United States Navy history. The carrier departed in November to support military operations and a maritime blockade against Iran in the Arabian Sea and Persian Gulf. The USS George Washington arrived in the region this week to relieve the vessel.

The return follows reports of deteriorating living conditions and a collapse in morale among the 5,000 sailors and Marines. Personnel on the Lincoln and other vessels, including the USS Benfold, USS Carl Vinson, and USS Tripoli, reported food and water shortages, sanitation issues, and mail disruptions. Some reports indicate sailors jumped overboard to escape the conditions, while anonymous graffiti on aircraft flaps expressed frustration with the war and the administration.

Acting Secretary of the Navy Hung Cao acknowledged that personnel were pushed to their limits but denied that meals were missed, stating that mental health cases were treated without loss of life. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has downplayed and denied accounts of the misery. These developments coincide with a decline in President Donald Trump's approval rating to 33 percent and reports that the administration ordered the retrofitting of aircraft carriers with obsolete steam catapults.