New aircraft carrier heads toward Mideast after reports of issues on long-deployed USS Lincoln

The USS George Washington has left Vietnam and is transiting toward the Middle East to relieve the USS Abraham Lincoln, which has spent a record-setting 260-plus days continuously at sea supporting the U.S. war against Iran.

Reports of food and mail shortages, plus mental health concerns among Lincoln's crew, have prompted Democratic senators including Richard Blumenthal and Ruben Gallego to demand oversight, while Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth called the reports 'completely misrepresented.' The Navy confirmed supply disruptions occurred due to combat-related disruption of traditional hubs, and acknowledged a sailor went overboard in August and was recovered.

The shift leaves the Pacific without a U.S. carrier presence for an unspecified period, even as the administration has softened its posture on China as the primary global threat. Meanwhile the Navy has reimposed a blockade on Iranian ports in the Strait of Hormuz, which Hegseth says can continue 'indefinitely.'

The full dispatch is available from the source below.