USS Abraham Lincoln Docks in Thailand After Record Deployment

The USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier docked at the Laem Chabang port in Thailand's Chonburi province on Wednesday, September 2, 2026, bringing approximately 5,000 sailors and Marines ashore for a five-day rest and recuperation period. The arrival marks the end of a grueling 286-day deployment that began when the carrier departed San Diego on November 21, 2025, and was later redirected to the Middle East amid escalating conflict with Iran. The extended mission, which included combat operations and a naval blockade, has been described by U.S. lawmakers as a modern-era record for consecutive days at sea without a port call. The carrier's strike group arrived in Thailand on Wednesday morning, with the destroyer USS Frank E. Petersen Jr. docking at the nearby port of Sriracha and the guided-missile cruiser USS Robert Smalls making port in Map Ta Phut in the neighboring Rayong province. Hundreds of sailors were bussed from the port to the resort city of Pattaya, where they began several days of shore leave. The U.S.