The weary aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln’s work in the Middle East is complete, and the ship, along with its crew of about 5,000 sailors, began its journey home to San Diego on Thursday after nine months of deployment. Another carrier, the Japan-based George Washington, has taken the Lincoln’s place.
A U.S. official confirmed the Lincoln’s departure, which was alluded to by Adm. Brad Cooper, who heads U.S. Central Command, in an opinion essay about the Abraham Lincoln published in The Wall Street Journal on Sunday.
“Godspeed and enjoy the well-deserved reunion soon,” the admiral wrote.
The Abraham Lincoln has been deployed in the Middle East as part of American operations against Iran. Reports began surfacing in recent weeks about poor quality of life aboard the ship because of logistics challenges brought about by Iran’s destruction of a Navy base in Manama, Bahrain, that served as a vital supply hub.
The Abraham Lincoln departed San Diego on Nov. 21 of last year, and has spent the entirety of those 272 days at sea, save for a brief stop in Guam in December and one in Oman to take on supplies. Thousands of sailors aboard the ship have not had any days off to rest, and now have a roughly 13,000-mile voyage home, which could take four to five weeks.
Democratic lawmakers have cited reports of shortages of basic supplies, water contamination, plumbing issues and deteriorating mental health aboard the carrier. Admiral Cooper called many of those issues “old news” in his opinion essay.
In a social media post on Sunday, Central Command, which directs military operations in the region, wished the Lincoln “fair winds and following seas” — a traditional Navy farewell that references the age of sail. On Thursday, another post said the U.S.S. George Washington had arrived in the Middle East and begun operating under Central Command’s control on Wednesday.
The Navy is maintaining about 20 warships in the Middle East outside of the Persian Gulf: two carrier strike groups centered around the U.S.S. George H.W. Bush and the George Washington, one amphibious ready group carrying a Marine Expeditionary Unit, and several destroyers that are enforcing President Trump’s renewed blockade of Iranian ports, which has entered its 38th day.
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