The United States (US) is reportedly sending a new aircraft carrier to the Middle East amid a controversy involving USS Abraham Lincoln, which is currently serving there in the wake of the ongoing war with Iran.
According to the Wall Street Journal, the USS George Washington is set to replace USS Abraham Lincoln, which has been deployed for more than 250 days.
The Pacific-based aircraft carrierhas now begun heading toward the Middle East.
Quick answers to key questions
Why is USS Abraham Lincoln being replaced by USS George Washington?⌵
USS Abraham Lincoln is being replaced reportedly due to its prolonged deployment of over 250 days, leading to concerns about the ship’s condition and the well-being of its crew amidst deteriorating living conditions.
What problems are reported aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln?⌵
Reports indicate issues such as food shortages, broken plumbing, mental health deterioration among sailors, and inadequate living conditions due to an extended deployment without sufficient port calls.
How long has USS Abraham Lincoln been deployed at sea?⌵
USS Abraham Lincoln has been deployed for more than 260 consecutive days, setting a record for US aircraft carriers in modern times.
What are the mental health concerns associated with the USS Abraham Lincoln’s deployment?⌵
There are rising mental health concerns due to the long deployment, with reports of sailors experiencing exhaustion, depression, and even suicidal ideations attributed to the challenging living conditions aboard the ship.
What actions has the Navy taken regarding supply issues reported on USS Abraham Lincoln?⌵
The Navy acknowledged that combat operations disrupted traditional supply routes, leading to shortages, but emphasized that mission-critical supplies like food and clean water were prioritized for the sailors.
“The USS George Washington left port in Da Nang, Vietnam, last week,” a Navy statement said, as per the Associated Press. The carrier, along with a cruiser and a destroyer, have since been spotted crossing the Singapore Strait.
The move would leave the waters of the Pacific without a US carrier presence for an unknown period of time.
Why is USS Abraham Lincoln being replaced?
The USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier, originally deployed November 21 from San Diego, had arrived in the , just before the US-Israel attack against Iran on February 28.
The Lincoln has since been supporting the US war against Iran. The carrier and its embarked aircraft proved to be instrumental to the bombing campaign, and the ship has participated in the US blockade of Iranian ports, according to the WSJ report.
But now, this aircraft carrier, whose deployment has included a record-setting uninterrupted time at sea of more than 260 days, is reported to be in poor condition.
While sources told the WSJ that the move to replace the Lincoln is part of a previously scheduled rotation plan, here are some of the problems which have been flagged by lawmakers and reports.
1. Extended deployment with few port calls
Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D., Conn.), in his to Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and Acting Secretary of the Navy Hung Cao, said, “The USS Abraham Lincoln has been deployed more than 250 days as of this writing, despite initially being scheduled for a seven-month deployment.”
“The flagship of Carrier Strike Group 3 has not made a port call in over 200 days, setting a record for consecutive days at sea,” he said.
The senator added that the Lincoln is not an isolated case. He said the USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78) spent 326 days at sea before returning home in May – nearly twice the length of a traditional six-month carrier deployment and the “longest modern US carrier deployment since the Vietnam era.”
2. ‘Deteriorating mental health’, ‘broken toilets’
According to the BBC and several other media outlets, thousands of US military members who have lived aboard an aircraft carrier for more than 250 days are struggling with food shortages, broken plumbing and exhaustion.
It was also alleged that seven sailors died in a brawl aboard the aircraft carrier. Several other reports suggested a spike in suicidal ideations.
The Military Times and Stars and Stripes reported earlier this week that some USS Abraham Lincoln sailors had considered jumping overboard, according to their families. They reportedly said that being at sea for an extended period of time and the conditions on board were hurting some members’ mental health.
The Navy official was quoted by AP as saying that a sailor aboard the Lincoln went overboard in early August but that the person was quickly recovered, treated by the ship’s medical department and transferred off ship for follow-on care. The official would not say if it was being considered a suicide attempt.
These reports prompted leading lawmakers to demand answers from the Pentagon and pressure the Trump administration over the Iran war.
Meanwhile, in his letter on August 13, Sen. Richard Blumenthal also mentioned reports flagging poor living conditions on the carrier.
“There have been widespread reports of shortages of basic supplies, water contamination, plumbing issues, deteriorating mental health, deck safety concerns, and disruptions in the mail system, which have caused many care packages in route to the ship to be lost in transit for months.”
Mike Levin, a Democrat, also summarised the issues on X as: “Moldy showers, broken toilets, laundry down for weeks, long stretches with no hot water, a meal that came down to half a cup of rice and two tortillas. No soap, deodorant, or toothpaste.”
Trump administration rejects claims
Defence Secretary on Thursday called reports of conditions “completely misrepresented”.
Hegseth told reporters during a visit to Panama that he wants the Lincoln’s sailors home and crews rotated as quickly as possible but pushed back against reports of problems aboard.
“We make sure that every ship, every crew, every captain has everything we can provide them at every single moment. Some deployments are longer than others, and I have more respect and gratitude for those sailors than anybody. What they do in those high seas in those austere conditions with less port calls — it’s incredible,” Hegseth was quoted by AP as saying.
The also rubbished the claims. It was written on X, “USS Abraham Lincoln has maintained among the highest crew reenlistment rates (84.4%) of all aircraft carriers in the US Navy.”
“The Sailors and Marines of the Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group remain resilient and resolved after more than 260 days at sea, 10,000 aircraft flights, and 1.5 million pounds of ordnance expended,” CENTCOM posted.
It added that no service members aboard the aircraft carrier have died, and the one sailor who fell overboard August 3 “was quickly and safely recovered.”
“The rampant misreporting on Abraham Lincoln’s historic deployment is a disservice to our men and women in uniform and their loved ones,” CENTCOM said.
Meanwhile, a Navy official told the BBC they had not identified an increase in reported suicidal ideation or suicide attempts aboard the ship and that “traditional supply hubs” had been “disrupted by combat actions”.
