Troubled US aircraft carrier heads home after protracted deployment – media

The USS Abraham Lincoln is heading to the US after a record-breaking nine-month deployment riddled with assorted issues The USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier is now heading home from its extended deployment, multiple US media outlets reported on Thursday, citing unnamed officials.The carrier’s deployment began in late November last year and was originally scheduled to end in May, but it was repeatedly pushed well beyond the deadline due to its participation in the US-Israeli aggression against Iran. The vessel now holds a modern US Navy record for the longest consecutive, uninterrupted time at sea with roughly 5,000 sailors and Marines aboard, spending more than 260 days without a port call. The deployment has been reportedly riddled with assorted troubles, ranging from food and basic supply shortages and prolonged lack of hot and potable water to ever-clogged toilets and broken morale and mental health issues, including multiple apparent attempts by crewmembers to jump overboard. The Navy has not confirmed such reports, with the acting Secretary Hung Cao only admitting last week the vessel has experienced a “small number of mental health cases,” which had been purportedly “trea...