Epic Weary: USS Lincoln Turns for Home

The Third Gulf War staggers along with an expired memorandum of understanding meant to produce a lasting peace out of a shaky ceasefire, and now a fourth aircraft carrier, USS George Washington, has entered the chat.

Replacing the USS Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group, Washington and its carrier strike group chopped into Central Command’s area of operations, changing operational control from 7th Fleet, Pacific Command, to CENTCOM’s 5th Fleet, still headquartered in Bahrain.

Yet it must be stressed, despite the wailing and gnashing of teeth from their families on social media and in the local and national press, which created enough political pressure on the War Department to pull Washington from its routine Pacific operations for the swap-out, Lincoln’s crew performed phenomenally.

Lincoln expended more than 1.5 million pounds of ordnance, launched 10,000 sorties and provided critical air power and air cover for President Donald J. Trump’s “Steel Curtain” blockade of Iranian-affiliated merchant ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz.

Equally important, Lincoln’s aircraft took out Iranian mines and drones and contributed to the otherwise uneventful passage of American-affiliated and/or allied tankers through the so-called southern route of the strait that hugs the coast of Oman.

The new carrier strike group arrived one ship down, as USS Benford lost power and drifted for four days, just before the strike group’s six-day Da Nang, Vietnam, liberty port call. The guided-missile destroyer’s crew went those four days without air conditioning or a galley, along with no hot showers or functioning toilets. To feed the Benford crew, guided-missile cruiser USS Robert Smalls pulled alongside and sent over meals from its own galley.

Benford was towed to Subic Bay, where her electrical plant was repaired, and she steamed back to Japan to sit the rest of this one out.

Joining Washington and Robert Smalls is USS Shoup, another guided-missile destroyer.

Washington’s group is not as heavy as Lincoln’s group, which consisted of three guided-missile destroyers: USS Michael Murphy, USS Spruance and USS Frank E. Petersen Jr.

Lincoln departed San Diego Nov. 21 for routine Pacific operations, so when the crew pulled into Guam Dec. 12, no one suspected it would be the last time any member of the crew would set foot on land—until the return home in September.

All four ships transited the Malacca Strait together in January as tensions with the Islamic Republic rose, but hostilities could not begin until the USS Gerald R. Ford and her carrier strike group arrived from its support operations off the coast of Venezuela. Ford arrived on station at the Mediterranean gate to the Suez Canal Feb. 27, and one day later, she was launching F-18 Hornets as Epic Fury kicked off.

Ford’s star-crossed deployment lasted 326 days, but that was broken up by port calls along the way: Marseille, France; Oslo, Norway; Palma de Mallorca, Spain; Split, Croatia; St. Thomas, Virgin Islands; Souda Bay, Crete; and one more stop in Split for five days of liberty and replenishment.

Ford actually visited Souda Bay twice, once for a regular port call and once for a working port call for three days, March 23 through March 26, to address the laundry room fire that injured two crewmembers and destroyed more than 300 berthing spaces.

Instead of matching Ford’s roughly eight port calls, the “Shall Not Perish” crew got one. That’s a lot to keep pent up.

All I can do is warn the San Diego clubs, bars and hangouts that when Lincoln rigs the gangplank: All hands brace for shock and prepare for heavy rolls.