The USS Abraham Lincoln, a nuclear-powered US aircraft carrier, returned to its home port of San Diego, California, on Thursday after a 322-day deployment that included a record 265 consecutive days at sea. Thousands of sailors came off the ship at Naval Air Station North Island, in Coronado, to cheers and tearful reunions. The Navy said 64 fathers met their babies for the first time, and the ship's commander put the figure at 122 when the air wing is included.
The carrier left California in November 2025 for duty in the South China Sea and was rerouted to the Middle East. It was there when US and Israeli forces began airstrikes on Iran on Feb. 28. According to the citation read to the crew, the Lincoln and its strike group flew nearly 3,700 combat missions, launched 450 Tomahawk cruise missiles, shot down 77 one-way attack drones and sank 64 Iranian warships. The carrier USS George Washington relieved it in the Middle East in August, and the crew had a port call in Thailand before heading home.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth flew to the ship on Wednesday to present the Presidential Unit Citation, the highest award a military unit can receive. He rejected efforts to make the Lincoln "a symbol of dysfunction or a symbol of low morale or a symbol of a failed mission." The Lincoln is the second carrier on a very long Iran-war deployment to receive the award; the USS Gerald R. Ford returned in May after 326 days, the longest for a carrier in about 50 years.
The deployment drew public concern. Families and lawmakers raised alarms in August about food shortages, deteriorating morale and mental health. The Navy initially downplayed the problems but later acknowledged some. In a letter to a lawmaker, Acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao said food supplies were adequate but that limited resupply during combat reduced main meal options from two to one for a short time. The Navy also told lawmakers that eight sailors in the strike group attempted suicide, and none died. Experts say that number is low for about 6,000 personnel over ten months. Capt. Daniel Keeler said most of the crew were on their first deployment and that the problems were normal for such a long mission, adding that everyone had four meals a day.
Families described a difficult separation, with communication limited mostly to emails and occasional, often glitchy calls. "There was a certain point when I never thought I would come off," said 20-year-old Abel Ramirez. Others spoke of craving home-cooked food and of missed birthdays and school years.
The homecoming comes as the war, now in its seventh month, remains politically contentious. President Donald Trump called the Lincoln's deployment "not nearly long enough" in August and has dismissed critical reporting as "fake news." A Pew Research Center poll released Thursday found 65 percent of Americans disapprove of his handling of the war, while 33 percent approve. Iran has also disrupted shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, a key route for fuel and fertiliser, adding to cost-of-living worries.