USS Abraham Lincoln departs Mideast after taxing deployment

NAPLES, Italy — The aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln has left the Middle East as it heads home to San Diego after a demanding nine-month deployment that included 200 days in a combat zone.

Lincoln and its crew of about 5,000 sailors and Marines are operating in the U.S. 7th Fleet area of operations, a Navy official confirmed Saturday, speaking on background as they were not authorized to speak publicly.

The fleet’s area of responsibility stretches from the International Date Line to the India-Pakistan border, and from the Kuril Islands in the north to the Antarctic in the south, according to the Navy.

Lincoln’s departure from the Arabian Sea, where it supported U.S. military operations against Iran, including a maritime blockade against Iranian ports, follows the arrival of the aircraft carrier USS George Washington to the Middle East earlier this week.

Washington, forward-deployed to 7th Fleet, was directed to relieve Lincoln as part of a regularly scheduled deployment, U.S. Central Command said Thursday in a post to its official X account.

Earlier this month, Stars and Stripes reported concerns among sailors and their families about mental health and the risk of self-harm aboard the carrier.

Sailors aboard Lincoln also told the newspaper that at least one fellow service member had been stopped from jumping off the ship a few months ago. The Navy did not respond to questions about that incident.

The report detailed that sailors and their family members said the crew had endured food and water shortages and mail disruptions, among other quality-of-life issues.

Lincoln, which departed its home port in San Diego in November, had made few regular port calls, which sailors say provide a much-needed break from their jobs and an opportunity to reset.

Port visits have been rare in part because the nearest common stops, including Bahrain, have been within range of Iranian missile and drone attacks.

The concerns first detailed by Stars and Stripes drew subsequent coverage from Navy Times and other news organizations, as well as commentary and additional claims online. The issue also drew the attention of U.S. lawmakers, some of whom have demanded an investigation into conditions aboard the carrier.

In an Aug. 14 statement, acting Secretary of the Navy Hung Cao said that a small number of mental health cases aboard Lincoln were treated with no loss of life, and that no meals had been missed, even though meal plans were adjusted when fresh supplies were unavailable. Calls home were limited when the operational threat was too high, he said.

He also pointed out that the ship had been on deployment for 266 days, most of that time in a combat zone. Lincoln also had among the highest retention rates of any carrier, Cao said.

“There is no question our young men and women have been pushed to their limits — but they have never broken,” he said. “They are rightly tired — but have never been out of the fight.”