USS Lincoln Returns To San Diego After 322-Day Deployment, Sailors Reunite With Families

Thousands of sailors came off the USS Lincoln into San Diego Bay on Thursday after more than 10 months at sea, finishing a 322-day deployment that supported the Iran war and strained the crew. AP reported that the Coronado homecoming drew thunderous cheers, tears and emotional hugs, with new dads meeting babies born while they were away.

The carrier logged a record 265 straight days at sea during the mission. Its deployment lasted 322 days, just shy of the USS Gerald R. Ford's 326-day run. The Lincoln left San Diego in November and reached the Middle East in January. U.S. and Israeli forces launched airstrikes against Iran on Feb. 28.

Families said they cried and lost sleep after reports of shortages on board and worsening mental health among the crew. Many could reach sailors only through the odd email or a rare WhatsApp call.

Families Reunite

Among the first sailors to leave the carrier in Coronado were 64 fathers meeting their babies for the first time, the Navy stated. With the air wing included, there were 122 new dads, Capt. Daniel Keeler said.

Abel Ramirez, 20, walked off the ship grinning as he looked for his parents, who had travelled from Texas. “It feels amazing,” Ramirez said. “There was a certain point when I never thought I would come off.”

For 14-year-old Cassity Garduque, the wait had stretched across a school year. She waved at her mother, who waved back from the top deck after the ship docked. “It feels really overwhelming,” Garduque said. “She missed most of my seventh grade and my birthday.” She added that she was glad her mom would not be eating ramen almost every day and could celebrate with her now.

Kathy Monterrosa waited with her 6-month-old daughter, Sarahi, dressed in a tiny blue and white sailor dress. “She's our deployment baby,” Monterrosa said. She said the reports from the ship were hard to take while she was pregnant. “I was crying a lot and worried. I wasn't sure if he was OK or not,” she said.

Steven Rivas held his 7-month-old daughter after returning home. “I couldn't grasp the reality of it,” he said. He said he was overwhelmed pulling into the bay, “seeing everyone and knowing my family was waiting for me,” Rivas said, his voice shaking as his eyes teared up.

Alma Solano Velez said her husband had a long list of meals he wanted after 10 months away, including oxtail, barbecue chicken, and broccoli and shrimp empanadas. He had also told his wife about “the lack of food and showers” on board and was eager to see their daughter, who turned 4 while he was away, she said.

Deployment Strains

Families had been crying and losing sleep after hearing about supply shortages and deteriorating mental health among the crew during the voyage. Communication remained thin for many households. Sailors often had access only to occasional email or rare WhatsApp calls.

Keeler defended the ship’s handling of the long mission. “It's a floating city as you can see and at any moment there might be a clogged toilet,” he said. He added that most of the crew was on its first deployment and that the issues were normal for such a long mission, while everyone had access to four meals a day.

The Navy at first downplayed problems on board. In August, President Donald Trump said the Lincoln’s unusually long deployment was “not nearly long enough.” Navy leaders later acknowledged that there had been some issues during the mission.

Acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao said in August that the Lincoln had adequate food supplies, but combat operations had briefly cut meal options because resupply opportunities were limited. After more than 10 months at sea, the Lincoln's crew stopped in Thailand early last month while heading back from the Middle East.

Long missions take a toll on crews and hardware. The Navy told lawmakers that eight sailors attempted suicide during the record-setting deployment, though experts said that figure was low for a strike group of 6,000 sailors over 10 months.

Honour And Combat

Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth flew out to the Lincoln on Wednesday to present the crew with the Presidential Unit Citation, the highest honour a unit can receive.

Hegseth told the crew that “what makes the U.S. military and the U.S. Navy and all these sailors different is that you adapt and that you're resilient and you overcome - you finish the mission nonetheless.”

He also pushed back against efforts to turn the “Lincoln into some sort of a symbol, a symbol of dysfunction or a symbol of low morale or a symbol of a failed mission.”

The Lincoln's long run at sea put it in rare company. It became only the second carrier to serve an extended deployment during the Iran war and then receive the Presidential Unit Citation, which usually goes to units for major combat performance. The USS Gerald R. Ford came back in May after 326 days, the longest aircraft carrier deployment in 50 years and a post-Vietnam War record.

Hegseth read out the citation to the crew. It said the Lincoln and its strike group carried out nearly 3,700 combat missions, fired 450 Tomahawk cruise missiles, downed 77 one-way attack drones, sank 64 Iranian warships and destroyed 21 anti-ship cruise missiles. The usually Asia-based USS George Washington took over in the Middle East in August.