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After being rerouted from a standard Pacific patrol in January, the carrier USS Abraham Lincoln sailed to the Persian Gulf. It had originally been scheduled to return to the U.S. in May, but the rest of the U.S. Navy's aircraft carrier fleet was locked into fixed schedules of required deep-maintenance, conducting mandatory pre-deployment training, or assigned to other critical global theaters. Because the Navy lacked an immediate, deployment-ready replacement, the Lincoln was held over.
There have been numerous stories about the cruise of CVN 72, the USS Lincoln. Some are true, but many were pure fabrications provided by Iranian and Chinese sources on social media to grab the attention of sailor's families and to stir the political pot in Washington.
Iran's Mehr News reported a riot aboard the vessel in which seven sailors died, and several were injured. It was also reported that an adviser to the CENTCOM commander was booed and pelted with water bottles on the deck of the Lincoln.
The source of the story was cited as Tasnim, an outlet of the Revolutionary Guards. In reality there was no riot and no one was injured or killed. However, the story circulated on social media and began to raise concerns at home.
Then came stories on social media that the Lincoln had been hit, damaged or even sunk by ballistic missiles and drones fired by the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps. These were accompanied by realistic AI generated videos and images that began appearing showing plumes of smoke billowing from the carrier with planes falling into the sea as the ship listed. For good measure video clips of the 2020 fire that destroyed a Wasp Class amphibious assault ship while undergoing maintenance were systematically spread on Chinese social media platforms.
Parents and families now became very concerned about what was happening to their sailor sons and daughters on the USS Lincoln and contacted their representatives in Washington. Numerous lawmakers, including Sen. Richard Blumenthal and Rep. Seth Moulton, sent formal letters to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao.
There is no doubt that the Lincoln had been on a longer than normal deployment. Long deployments, while not the norm, are not unknown in the history of U.S. Navy carrier aviation.
During World War II the carrier USS Hornet CV-12 spent a record 495 consecutive days at sea without returning to a port. During the Vietnam War the carrier USS Midway CVA-44 was deployed for 332 days in the Gulf of Tonkin.
Added to problems caused by the carrier's long deployment was that the Lincoln's normal supply chain had been disrupted when Iran badly damaged Naval Support Activity in Bahrain, the Navy's primary logistics base in the region. Because of this the Navy was forced to route all food, mail, and material supply operations through Diego Garcia, a tiny British island 2200 miles away in the Indian Ocean. The loss of the Bahrain base crippled normal resupply, creating severe material deficiencies and shortages of essential food, hygiene products, and equipment parts.
Fresh fruits and vegetables were rationed yet ran out within weeks. As the weeks passed the ship’s galleys transitioned to dried nonperishable food such as powdered milk, powdered eggs, dehydrated vegetables and stews. While these are nourishing, they are not as appetizing or favorable.
Besides food, the Lincoln ran out of everyday necessities like soap and toothpaste and cleaning products leading to moldy showers. Further the crew had to contend with broken toilets and other plumbing problems, a normal occurrence in a city of 5,000 but the extreme humidity, high salinity, and continuous operations took a heavy toll on the ship’s physical systems, leading to persistent maintenance challenges.
While conducting combat operations, carrier crew members eat better and live more comfortably than their counterparts in Army and Marine combat units but life on a carrier In a war zone is nothing like being on a cruise ship. Every day is a 12-hour workday seven days a week. Enlisted sailors sleep in gender segregated berthing areas where bunks are stacked three high with the only privacy afforded by a fire retardant blue curtain. Beneath each bunk's mattress is a small built-in storage compartment with just enough room for uniforms and personal items.
A normal day aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln during intensive Middle Eastern operations was a 24-hour cycle of combat readiness in extreme heat. The Carrier Air Wing operated in continuous day and night waves. F/A-18 Super Hornets, E-2D Hawkeyes, and EA-18G Growlers launched and recovered in rapid succession. Flight deck crews worked in blistering heat wearing full heavy gear, moving between catapult launches, landings, refueling, and re-arming jets with munitions.
Now the Lincoln and her crew are on their way back to her home port in San Diego. The records will indicate that the ship and crew performed well under extraordinarily trying circumstances.
Some politicians and others see the crew as victims in this story, but I believe that in the coming years crewmembers will remember with pride what they accomplished on board the USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72). They will have every right to do so.
Thomas Kirkpatrick Sr. is a Silver Creek resident. Send comments to editorial@observertoday.com