USS Abraham Lincoln returns to San Diego after 10-month deployment

The USS Abraham Lincoln, a Nimitz-class aircraft carrier, finally returned to San Diego on October 8th. The carrier garnered national attention in August when the poor conditions on the ship, which spent 265 days of uninterrupted time at sea, became known to the public. Around 5,000 sailors reunited with their families in Coronado, Calif., 64 of whom were fathers meeting their babies for the first time, according to NPR .

Coming home after an arduous deployment like that, they should be nothing but proud of the work they put in,” said Denzell Washington, a third-year multimedia journalism major and U.S. Navy veteran, via text. “The time it takes to moor the ship to the pier pulling into home port feels like an eternity, but there’s nothing like wrapping your arms around your loved ones after being gone for so long.”

Four news outlets, including the San Diego Union-Tribune, sent reporters out to the carrier the night before its return. Gary Robbins, a science, military and higher education reporter for the Union-Tribune, was flown out along with a photographer. Robbins firsthand account of the final night on the ship is detailed in his article for the news outlet .