Roughly 5,000 sailors and Marines have been serving at sea aboard the Lincoln for nine months. The carrier spent 208 continuous days at sea, more than any other carrier in the modern era.<\/p>\n
The ship started its deployment in late November, leaving San Diego and traveling through the Pacific. In January, the carrier and its supporting strike group arrived<\/a> in the Middle East, part of an \u201carmada\u201d sent to the region as the Trump administration threatened Iran over violence towards protesters. When the war with Iran started on Feb. 28, the ship and its carrier air wing were part of the operation, with fighter jets hitting targets around Iran. The Lincoln has been a major part of the war, taking part in Operation Epic Fury, the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz and the renewed fighting in the last month that the Pentagon has labeled \u201coverseas operations.\u201d Two other carriers have participated in combat operations in the region as part of the war, but one has departed while the other arrived weeks after the other two.<\/p>\n The Lincoln has spent most of the last nine months on the water. Between a stop in Guam in December and a brief visit in Oman in June, the ship spent 208 continuous days at sea.<\/p>\n Family members also expressed concern over how those conditions and operational pace could affect performance and lead to accidents on the ship. According to one of the military family members MS Now talked to, a Navy veteran himself, holes have been spotted on the carrier\u2019s flight deck from wear.<\/p>\n In a statement to MS Now, a 5th Fleet spokesperson denied reports of holes on the flight deck and said that the Lincoln \u201cremains fully capable of meeting all mission tasking.\u201d<\/p>\n The military families that talked to MS Now also described shortages of basic toiletry supplies such as soap and toothpaste. Adding to the hygiene issues are broken toilets, mold in showers and inoperable laundry facilities.<\/p>\n This is not the first time issues were reported on the USS Abraham Lincoln during its deployment. In April, USA Today shared photos of food given to service members on the Lincoln and the USS Tripoli. They showed half-empty trays with small portions or with gray processed meat. The photos led some members of Congress to call for investigations into conditions on the ships.<\/p>\n The Office of the Chief of Naval Operations denied there were any shortages or that food was of poor quality. \u201cBoth USS Abraham Lincoln and USS Tripoli have sufficient food onboard to serve their crews with healthy options,\u201d the office wrote<\/a> in a post on X on April 17.<\/p>\n The Lincoln is the second carrier in recent months to suffer issues affecting sailors\u2019 quality of life. The USS Gerald R. Ford sailed to the Middle East from the Caribbean, as part of a record-setting deployment that took it from participating in the January attack on Venezuela to Operation Epic Fury. During that deployment<\/a>, the ship\u2019s toilets kept failing, with sewage often overflowing and spilling onto the floor. During its time in the 5th Fleet area of operations, a fire broke out in the laundry room, causing enough damage that the Ford went to port for repairs.<\/p>\n![\"U.S.](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/9815838.jpg\")
Sailors conduct a replenishment-at-sea between the USS Abraham Lincoln and the dry cargo and ammunition ship USNS Cesar Chavez on July 4, 2026. Navy photo.<\/p>\n