USS Abraham Lincoln returns to San Diego after deployment during war on Iran

The USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier returned on Thursday to San Diego, after it took part in a record 321-day deployment during the US-Israeli war on Iran. US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth boarded the ship at sea on Wednesday, telling sailors onboard that the strike group had done what “no other carrier strike group has ever done.” The vessel, which carried 5,000 sailors and Marines, left its home port in San Diego last November for the Pacific and was redirected to the Middle East after the war on Iran began in late February. Circulating reports have indicated that crew faced shortages of food and basic supplies onboard the aircraft carrier alongside declining mental health and morale.