File photo, Anat Givon/AP Photo
Alleged supply problems on the USS Abraham Lincoln can be traced back in part to the start of the Iran war, when an Iranian drone strike took out a key American logistical hub in Bahrain, according to a report.
Iran’s assault, which came right at the start of the war in response to joint U.S. and Israeli airstrikes on Tehran, destroyed a significant part of the Navy’s base in Bahrain, including a long-relied upon logistical facility, The New York Times reported Saturday.
The loss of the convenient port has made it tough to resupply the Lincoln and its 5,000 sailors and Marines, who have now been deployed more than eight months as the war has dragged on.
The Lincoln has been stationed in the Arabian Sea, making Bahrain a natural choice for logistical needs. Instead, the Navy has been forced to rely upon the smaller Naval Support Facility Diego Garcia, about 2,200 miles away in the Indian Ocean, an anonymous official told The Times.
Families have begun speaking out and sharing text messages and concerns from those aboard, claiming desperate sailors have jumped overboard; lacked hygiene products and fresh food and even at times been served rotten meat.
The Navy, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth and President Donald Trump have denied the allegations — which former Defense Secretary Leon Panetta slammed as “inexcusable.”
Hegseth denied reports of problems on the Lincoln this week as “completely misrepresented.”
“Hearing from the troops on the frontlines in @CENTCOM — air, land, and sea (including the USS Abraham Lincoln),” he said in an Instagram post late Friday. “Incredible Americans on a historic mission.”
The Nimitz-class warship deployed from its home base in San Diego on Nov. 21 and had its deployment extended at least once.
Under Navy tradition, a ship’s commanding officer can ask to give their crews a “beer day” for every 45 straight days at sea — meaning the Lincoln is already due five ber days, The Times noted.
Trump declared Friday the Lincoln’s deployment was “not nearly long enough.”
The post The Hidden Cost of Iran’s Drone Strikes: Hit on Logistical Hub Reportedly Helped Spark Navy Supply Problem first appeared on Mediaite.
