The USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier returned to its home port in San Diego, California on Thursday after a 322-day deployment, as roughly 5,000 sailors reunited with their families, including 122 new fathers meeting their children for the first time.
The carrier arrived at US Naval Air Station North Island to cheers from family members and friends who had gathered to welcome the crew home after nearly 11 months away.
Fathers of babies born during the deployment disembarked first in keeping with the US Navy’s tradition.
The Navy said 64 fathers serving aboard the carrier were meeting their babies for the first time, while the ship’s commanding officer, Capt. Daniel Keeler, said the number rose to 122 when the carrier’s air wing was included.
“There are 122 new dads that are going to walk off the ship today,” Lt. Cmdr. Tyler Barker, the carrier’s public affairs officer, said at a news conference Thursday, according to Military Times. “From the air wing and from my ship, they’re waiting to meet their children for the very first time.”
Families and loved ones of the sailors came from across the US
“We would have come in anywhere his ship was coming in,” Lisa Bisson, who traveled from Maine with her family to welcome her son Joseph home from his first deployment, told the San Diego Union Tribune.
The carrier departed San Diego in November 2025 for what was initially expected to be a shorter deployment. It was later redirected to the Middle East as the US and Israel launched military operations against Iran on February 28, extending the deployment.
The Lincoln spent a record 265 consecutive days at sea without a port visit, according to the Associated Press. The carrier was relieved by the USS George Washington in August before beginning its journey back to California, with stops in Thailand and Guam.
The extended deployment also drew scrutiny over the crew’s living conditions. The Navy later told lawmakers that eight sailors assigned to the carrier strike group had attempted suicide during the deployment.
On Wednesday, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth visited the carrier and presented the crew with the Presidential Unit Citation, the military’s highest unit-level award for valor.
The carrier strike group’s operations included thousands of combat missions and attacks on Iranian military assets during the war.
