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The USS Abraham Lincoln returned to its home port of San Diego on Thursday, ending a 321-day deployment that included participation in the US-Israeli war against Iran, according to USNI News.
The carrier arrived at Naval Air Station North Island after spending 265 consecutive days at sea without a port call, a record for the US Navy.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth boarded the ship at sea on Wednesday and presented its crew with the Presidential Unit Citation, the highest decoration awarded to military units, for the carrier’s role in Operation Epic Fury.
Hegseth told sailors the strike group had done what “no other carrier strike group has ever done.” He rejected what he described as attempts to portray the carrier as “a symbol of dysfunction” or low morale.
The Lincoln, carrying 5,000 sailors and Marines, left San Diego last November for the Pacific. It was redirected to the Middle East after the United States and Israel launched a war against Iran on Feb. 28.
Media reports during the summer described shortages of food and basic supplies, as well as declining mental health and morale among the crew. Reports also said two sailors had tried to jump overboard.
