Hegseth praises sailors’ resilience after record-breaking carrier deployment

US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth flew to the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln on Oct 7 and praised the resilience of sailors who endured an extended, wartime deployment that drew scrutiny over suicide attempts on board.



The Lincoln, which is due to dock on Oct 8 in San Diego, is the flagship of a carrier strike group that had eight suicide attempts among US sailors during its time at sea, according to the Navy. Its deployment included 264 continuous days without a port call, a record, according to the Pentagon.



Hegseth, whose speeches regularly target the media, accused reporters of trying to turn the crew of the Lincoln strike group into symbols of dysfunction instead of heroes of the conflict, and presented a citation from US President Donald Trump for their achievements during the Iran war.



The Lincoln’s accomplishments included sinking 64 Iranian warships, destroying 21 anti-ship cruise missiles, executing 3,693 combat sorties, launching 450 Tomahawk land attack cruise missiles and firing 1.37 million pounds of ordnance against Iran, Hegseth said.



Despite the fast pace of combat operations, it suffered no casualties and had no aircraft mishaps, Hegseth said.