The aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln made a joyous holiday-season return to San Diego on Friday, ending a deployment in which its escort destroyers had to repel missile and drone attacks by Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in the Middle East.
The aerial assault came last month while the Lincoln Carrier Strike Group was in the Red Sea, helping to protect Israel from a possible strike by Iran. Israel had recently killed Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar.
The Navy described the Houthis’ attack as one of the boldest swipes at American warships since World War II. None of the strike group’s vessels were hit. But the face-off caused anxiety among family and friends in Navy towns like San Diego, due to false reports by international news media that the Lincoln had been badly damaged.
But any lingering anxieties lifted Friday morning as the Abe, as the 35-year-old carrier is known, emerged from a dense fog bank and docked at Lima Pier on North Island, where more than 500 friends and families — many in Christmas finery — gathered to welcome the ship home.
Sailors were soon streaming off the Lincoln, including 38 men who were about to meet sons and daughters who had been born during their five-month deployment.
The off-load was preceded by a poignant moment in which Shereena Morris, a culinary specialist third class, sang a soaring rendition of “The Star-Spangled Banner” as she stood on the flight deck with thousands of other sailors wearing their signature dress blues.
“I’m so glad to be home,” Morris told The San Diego Union-Tribune, which flew out to the carrier on Thursday and rode it into San Diego Bay.
The nearly 1,100-foot-long Lincoln left San Diego on July 11 for deployment to the Indo-Pacific. But in late September, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin ordered the ship to quickly travel to the Middle East to relieve the USS Theodore Roosevelt, another San Diego-based aircraft carrier.
Things were relatively quiet for a while. Then came the Houthi attack.
“Everything was normal — and then, all of a sudden, everything was different,” said Cmdr. Bryan Davenport, one of the ship’s chaplains. “It was like a surprise. But we train for this, and we were ready.”
Another jolt of adrenaline came for the Lincoln a short time later, when the Black Knights, a Marine fighter squadron from Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, were ordered to launch missile attacks against Houthi weapons facilities in Yemen. The Navy described it as a successful mission — one that represented the first combat action by Marines flying F-35C stealth fighters.
“I never got a sense of concern or worry” during the strike, said Lt. Col. Jeffrey Davis, the commander of the Black Knights. “Everyone was just doing their job, contributing their part, making sure we were able to protect merchant vessels that were in the area, and our own ships.”
“I’m older than I was when I first started doing these deployments,” added Davis, now 40. “After a while, you recognize that you’re the old man in the room. Everyone else may be seeing this for the first time.”
The return trip to San Diego was largely uneventful. But the carrier’s commander, Capt. Pete Riebe, took steps to make Thursday fun and memorable.
Earlier, he had befriended Nashville country singer-songwriter Abram Dean on Instagram. He asked Dean if he and other musicians would fly out to the carrier to give a concert — which they did, with help from the United Service Organizations.
The carrier deck is usually filled with the roar of jets. But not on Thursday.
The trio began strumming their guitars in late afternoon, leaning into songs about loves lost and found, drinking beer and their adoration of dogs.
Hundreds of crew members drew near, many of their faces visibly drained of stress. Riebe stood with them, wearing a cowboy hat, as content as the rest.
“I’m so glad I had a chance to do something like this for my country,” Dean said.
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