The United States Navy has reportedly scrambled to deploy a replacement to relieve the personnel aboard the embattled USS Lincoln aircraft carrier, which is facing dire conditions due to an extended deployment.
MS NOW reported on Friday that the George Washington Carrier Strike Group, currently near Malaysia, is sailing to West Asia to replace the Lincoln.
USS George Washington, USS Robert Smalls and USS Shoup are passing through the Strait of Malacca after making a westbound transit through the Singapore Strait, a Navy official confirmed to USNI News.
The George Washington Carrier Strike Group will reportedly replace the Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group in the Arabian Sea in about eight days.
The Lincoln, on which the personnel are said to be in dire conditions due to food and supply shortages and multiple other issues causing complaints on board the ship, has been in the Arabian Sea since January.
It has set a Navy record of 241 consecutive days at sea, breaking the 206-day-at-sea record set by USS Dwight D. Eisenhower in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Lincoln’s deployment was scheduled to end in May; however, the mission was extended as the Trump administration remains embroiled in the illegal war on Iran.
Sailors and Marines aboard the Lincoln have complained that they were told that Trump’s war on Iran would be very short, lasting only “a few weeks.”
In a post on X on Wednesday, Senator Ruben Gallego cited the dire conditions aboard the Lincoln. “The way [US President Donald Trump] is treating our service members as he carries out this continued deployment is not just disgusting, it’s dangerous.”
Family members of sailors aboard the Lincoln have expressed concern about their mental health deteriorating due to the conditions, with some sailors having reportedly attempted to jump overboard. While the US Navy has acknowledged supply challenges, it has denied that a mental health crisis was taking place on the Lincoln, which has 5,000 aboard.
