Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group Returns to San Diego After Nearly 11 Months
October 8, 2026 3:21 PM
After 321 days, the Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group is home.
Flagship USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72) pulled into its berth at Naval Air Station North Island around 3:15 p.m. EST on Thursday.
The record-breaking deployment, which saw the ship go 265 consecutive days at sea, is finally over. As the ship made its way through the busy San Diego Bay, sailors manned the rails in their dress whites – some were spotted on a live feed from the ship skipping and holding hands as they rushed to their positions. Around the bend, thousands of loved ones gathered to welcome them home after nearly 11 months deployed.
After deploying Nov. 21, 2025, Abe and its escort USS Frank E. Petersen, Jr. (DDG-121) sailed to the Indo-Pacific, making a port call on Dec. 11 in Guam. Soon after, Abe and Petersen were sent to the Middle East, where the two ships spent the majority of the deployment.
The carrier strike group returned home Thursday with a Presidential Unit Citation in recognition of its work as part of Operation Epic Fury – the U.S. military campaign against Iran that began Feb. 28 – around one month after the strike group arrived in the Middle East.