The USS Abraham Lincoln is set to return home to California, it was reported Thursday, as its replacement arrived in the Middle East to take over operations amid America's ongoing war with Iran. In a post to X on Thursday morning, U.S. Central Command said the USS George Washington was in the Arabian Sea.
The arrival means the Lincoln can return to San Diego after over nine months at sea that culminated in wide-ranging concerns about conditions and supplies on board. A U.S. official confirmed to The New York Times that the Lincoln had begun its journey home. An official return date was not immediately clear.
Newsweek reached out to the Navy for comment via email Thursday afternoon. Reports emerged in recent weeks from parents, spouses and friends of those on board the Lincoln that the crew was facing increasingly dire conditions, including moldy showers, poor food quality and a lack of basic necessities such as soap and razors. On Friday, Newsweek spoke with the wife of a higher-ranking officer on board the vessel, who detailed how spouses had been trying to send care packages to the crew after reports of supplies running low and food deteriorating in the spring.
"Well, the care package took 2 1/2 months to get there. So that was concerning," Ashley Rogers said in a phone interview. "Now the most recent communications, even with my husband, who snaps into military mode, he just does his job, even he sounds so just defeated, and he has a really hard time getting his guys to cooperate and do their jobs." Mental well-being also became a concern, with reports that some sailors had attempted—and even succeeded—in jumping overboard.
Navy pushed back on these claims. "Based on information available to the command, we have not identified an increase in reported suicidal ideation or suicide attempts aboard the ship," a Navy spokesperson said August 12. "We take every service member’s well-being seriously and have religious, medical and mental health professionals available to assess and address concerns as they arise." President Donald Trump and his Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth both sought to downplay the claims about the conditions aboard the Lincoln.
Speaking to reporters at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland on Friday, the president was asked about the concerns, as the ship surpassed 265 days at sea. "No, they're not," Trump said about families raising concerns. When asked if the deployment had gone on too long, Trump said, "No, no, no.
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