The aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln departed its home port Nov. 21, 2025. In the 321 days since casting off lines from San Diego, the ship and its crew sailed across the Pacific Ocean, through the San Bernardino Strait, Surigao Strait and Strait of Malacca, and into the South China Sea, Indian Ocean and Arabian Sea.
The ship steamed more than 93,000 nautical miles, conducted 72 replenishments-at-sea and received more than 20.5 million gallons of aviation fuel during the operations. The Lincoln's crew also supported more than 13,000 aviation sorties from Carrier Air Wing 9 aircraft, totaling 28,500 flight hours.
"[The] 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 Navy Rear Adm. Robert Loughran, Carrier Strike Group 3 commander. "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 area of responsibility in late January, the carrier and its strike group, Carrier Strike Group 3, spearheaded the Navy's involvement in Operation Epic Fury, taking the lead role on the southern Iranian coast as Commander, Task Force 50.
The strike group, with the Lincoln at its center, supported 40 days of major combat operations, involving nearly 4,000 combat sorties from the air wing. Task force units destroyed more than 100 Iranian drone, missile and small boat attacks against the force, with the wing delivering more than 1.5 million pounds of ordnance on thousands of targets in support of operational 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 its 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 U.S. leaders 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 Navy Capt. Dan Keeler, USS Abraham Lincoln 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, the Lincoln and air wing supported strikes against Iran's coastal defense systems, cruise missile storage and launch sites. The strike group then bolstered the second naval blockade of Iranian shipping and ports until departing the Centcom area of responsibility, Aug. 22, to begin its return transit home.
The Lincoln completed brief, overnight stops for supplies in Guam in December 2025 and just last month, as well as in Duqm, Oman, in July. The ship also conducted a port call in Pattaya, Thailand, last month. 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 1/2 months," Keeler said. "We asked a lot of these warfighters, and every time, they rose to the occasion, achieving the mission with pride, professionalism and expertise."
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