Sailors and Marines aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln are dealing with food shortages, moldy showers and poor morale, according to military family members concerned for their well-being. It’s the second time this year that an aircraft carrier on an extended deployment has seen poor conditions.
The poor situation on the Lincoln was reported this week by MS Now, citing conversations with a dozen family members of sailors and Marines on the ship, as well as recordings of meetings between family and Navy leadership. According to them, the crew onboard the aircraft carrier is worn out from the length of time at sea and long shifts as the carrier continues to take part in the war with Iran. Meanwhile, they are dealing with food shortages, long lines for meals, broken toilets and hygiene issues.
Roughly 5,000 sailors and Marines have been serving at sea aboard the Lincoln for nine months. The carrier spent 208 continuous days at sea, more than any other carrier in the modern era.
The ship started its deployment in late November, leaving San Diego and traveling through the Pacific. In January, the carrier and its supporting strike group arrived in the Middle East, part of an “armada” sent to the region as the Trump administration threatened Iran over violence towards protesters. When the war with Iran started on Feb. 28, the ship and its carrier air wing were part of the operation, with fighter jets hitting targets around Iran. The Lincoln has been a major part of the war, taking part in Operation Epic Fury, the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz and the renewed fighting in the last month that the Pentagon has labeled “overseas operations.” Two other carriers have participated in combat operations in the region as part of the war, but one has departed while the other arrived weeks after the other two.
The Lincoln has spent most of the last nine months on the water. Between a stop in Guam in December and a brief visit in Oman in June, the ship spent 208 continuous days at sea.
Family members also expressed concern over how those conditions and operational pace could affect performance and lead to accidents on the ship. According to one of the military family members MS Now talked to, a Navy veteran himself, holes have been spotted on the carrier’s flight deck from wear.
In a statement to MS Now, a 5th Fleet spokesperson denied reports of holes on the flight deck and said that the Lincoln “remains fully capable of meeting all mission tasking.”
The military families that talked to MS Now also described shortages of basic toiletry supplies such as soap and toothpaste. Adding to the hygiene issues are broken toilets, mold in showers and inoperable laundry facilities.
This is not the first time issues were reported on the USS Abraham Lincoln during its deployment. In April, USA Today shared photos of food given to service members on the Lincoln and the USS Tripoli. They showed half-empty trays with small portions or with gray processed meat. The photos led some members of Congress to call for investigations into conditions on the ships.
The Office of the Chief of Naval Operations denied there were any shortages or that food was of poor quality. “Both USS Abraham Lincoln and USS Tripoli have sufficient food onboard to serve their crews with healthy options,” the office wrote in a post on X on April 17.
The Lincoln is the second carrier in recent months to suffer issues affecting sailors’ quality of life. The USS Gerald R. Ford sailed to the Middle East from the Caribbean, as part of a record-setting deployment that took it from participating in the January attack on Venezuela to Operation Epic Fury. During that deployment, the ship’s toilets kept failing, with sewage often overflowing and spilling onto the floor. During its time in the 5th Fleet area of operations, a fire broke out in the laundry room, causing enough damage that the Ford went to port for repairs.
This week, families of the sailors and Marines on the Lincoln met with Navy officials, including the acting secretary. MS Now, citing accounts of an in-person meeting and audio and video recordings of a virtual meeting, said that military families confronted Navy leadership over the matter Thursday night. During that meeting, per the recording, Navy leaders acknowledged issues with the ship’s toilets and said they are working to address shower concerns. They also admitted to a backlog of supplies of food and mail, saying that it was difficult to get supplies from Bahrain to the ship, due to the war.
A third carrier, the USS George H.W. Bush, deployed to the Middle East in April. Both it and the Lincoln remain in the region.
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