USS Abraham Lincoln Returns to US Homeport After 321 Days at Sea
SAN DIEGO — The aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln returned to San Diego on Thursday after 321 days at sea.
The Lincoln deployment on Nov. 21, 2005, saw the carrier and its crew sail across the Pacific Ocean, through the San Bernardino Strait, Surigao Strait, and Strait of Malacca, and into the South China Sea, Indian Ocean, and North Arabian Sea while participating in Operation Epic Fury.
[Photo above: USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72), returns to its home station at Naval Air Station North Island, Calif., Oct. 8, 2026, following 10 months of operations. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Alexander Timewell)]
The ship steamed more than 93,000 nautical miles, conducted 72 replenishments-at-sea (RAS) and received more than 20.5 million gallons of aviation fuel over the course of their operations. Abraham Lincoln’s crew also supported more than 13,000 aviation sorties from Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 9 aircraft, totaling 28,500 flight hours.
“USS Abraham Lincoln and the entire Carrier Strike Group team set a new standard of excellence through their extraordinary conduct during this historic deployment,” said Rear Adm. Robert Loughran, commander, Carrier Strike Group (CSG) 3. “I am incredibly proud of each and every Sailor, Marine, and member of this team for what they have accomplished under the most demanding conditions. Their professionalism, resilience, and combat effectiveness have been unmatched. We now look forward with great excitement to their well-earned reunion with family and loved ones.”
After arriving in the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) area of responsibility (AOR) in late January, the carrier and its strike group, Carrier Strike Group (CSG) 3, spearheaded the U.S. Navy’s involvement in Operation Epic Fury, taking the lead role on the southern Iranian coast as Commander, Task Force (CTF) 50. CSG-3, with Abraham Lincoln at its center, supported 40 days of major combat operations, involving nearly 4,000 combat sorties from CVW-9. CTF-50 units destroyed more than 100 Iranian drone, missile, and small boat attacks against the force, with CVW-9 delivering more than 1.5 million pounds of ordnance on thousands of targets in support of Epic Fury objectives. This concentrated firepower significantly degraded Iranian Navy capabilities.
Following the April 8 ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran, the strike group shifted gears, leveraging their skill and expertise toward enforcing a maritime blockade. The strike group’s ironclad blockade against Iranian-flagged vessels in the Northern Arabian Sea and Gulf of Oman denied the flow of Iranian oil and material, ensuring that U.S. leadership could engage in diplomatic negotiations from a position of strength.
“Conducting major combat operations, enforcing two naval blockades, and demonstrating our presence and power projection capabilities in multiple Numbered Fleets, all while keeping an unprecedented operational tempo for a long period of time, is truly remarkable, and demonstrates the strength and resilience of the 5,000 Sailors and Marines across this strike group,” said U.S. Navy Capt. Dan Keeler, Abraham Lincoln’s commanding officer. “This team is literally rewriting the book of what an aircraft carrier is capable of, and it has been awe-inspiring to watch them grow as a team through this historic deployment.”
In response to Iran’s attacks on commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz in July, Abraham Lincoln and CVW-9 supported strikes against Iran’s coastal defense systems and cruise missile storage and launch sites. The strike group then bolstered the second naval blockade of Iranian shipping and ports until departing the CENTCOM AOR, Aug. 22, to begin its return transit home.
Abraham Lincoln completed brief, overnight stops for supplies in Guam in December 2025 and September 2026, as well as in Duqm, Oman in July 2026. The ship also conducted a port call in Pattaya, Thailand from Sept. 2-6, 2026. The ship’s 208 uninterrupted days at sea between Guam and Oman, and its 286 consecutive days at sea between departing San Diego and arriving in Thailand, are record-breaking marks for modern aircraft carriers.
“I could not be prouder of the group of Sailors and Marines aboard this mighty warship for everything they have accomplished the last 10 and a half months,” said Keeler. “We asked a lot of these warfighters, and every time, they rose to the occasion, achieving the mission with pride, professionalism, and expertise.”
The Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group consists of flagship Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72); the embarked staffs of CSG 3, Destroyer Squadron (DESRON) 21, and CVW 9; Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers USS Frank E. Petersen Jr. (DDG 121), USS Spruance (DDG 111) and USS Michael Murphy (DDG 112); and more than 70 fixed-wing and rotary-wing aircraft.
