PATTAYA, Thailand (AP) — The USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier, which spent nearly nine months at sea to support U.S. operations against Iran, docked at a port in eastern Thailand on Wednesday to give the crew of about 5,000 an opportunity for beachside rest and recuperation.
The sailors and Marines aboard the nuclear-powered ship had not been on shore for more than 260 days, and reports emerged last month of deteriorating mental health among the crew as well as shortages of key food supplies aboard.
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The Navy downplayed any problems, and President Donald Trump commented that the Lincoln’s lengthy deployment was “not nearly long enough.”
The Lincoln, launched in 1988 and as long as about three American football fields, made its way into the Laem Chabang port in Thailand's Chonburi province Wednesday morning shortly after the destroyer USS Frank E. Petersen Jr., one of several ships in its carrier strike group, sailed past the area. Another, the guided-missile cruiser USS Robert Smalls, headed to Map Ta Phut in neighboring Rayong province.
The Lincoln's crew members later debarked to spend their free time in nearby Pattaya, a seaside resort city that U.S. military personnel have frequented since the Vietnam War era.
Crew members were not immediately accessible to media, but the ship itself looked due for at least a new paint job, with large blotches of what appeared to be rust on the hull, especially just above the waterline and at the edge of the flight deck, where fighter aircraft and helicopters were parked.
The U.S. Embassy said the ship has been deployed for a total of 286 days since November, and that Thailand was the ship's first full port stop in that time. Its total uninterrupted time at sea before Wednesday's arrival was 264 days.
When asked about the carrier’s appearance, Capt. Dan Keeler, the Lincoln’s commanding officer, replied that “it is normal for a long deployment and we’re not going to make further comments.”
“It looks like what it is: a ship that’s been continuously at sea for 286 days,” Euan Graham, a defense expert at the Australian National Security College, told The Associated Press after reviewing photos of the ship. “And the Abraham Lincoln has been on a prolonged combat deployment, during which normal port calls were denied to it.
“So it becomes a tempting symbol of the U.S. Navy’s strategic overstretch and fatigue,” he added. “However, what’s also notable is the impressive state of the air wing. So maybe the underlying story is also one of resilience under conditions of extreme stress.”
The Navy had dismissed reports about sailors onboard struggling with mental health concerns. A Navy official said a sailor aboard the Lincoln went overboard in early August but the person was quickly recovered, treated by the ship’s medical department and transferred off ship for follow-on care. The official would not say whether it was considered a suicide attempt.
In Pattaya, welcome banners hung outside restaurants and bars, and a local gem store touted its self-described special deals. A giant LED sign in front of the city's famous Walking Street, a nightlife hub, features a welcome message with images of the Lincoln, as well as the Thai and U.S. flags.
Pattaya’s mayor, Poramet Ngampichet, said he expected the visit could generate about 100 million baht ($3 million) for the city.
Once known mostly as a seedy city of bars and massage parlors offering sexual services, the city has in recent years toned down its act to become more of a family destination, with attractions such as theme parks and golf courses.
Jaroon Kasemsantitham has run a beachside restaurant there for more than 30 years. He said September is usually the worst month for business, and 2026 had been especially bad because of the tourism slump triggered by the Iran war.
The 66-year-old put up a welcome banner with a U.S. flag motif and a silhouette of a carrier, and the words “ALL WELCOME.”
Politics was not what he cared to talk about, he told AP.
“I’m doing business, so I want a lot of customers,” Jaroon said. “When we heard the news, we were excited… I sent a video clip to my employees and said ‘Look, the Americans are coming.’”
Visitors to Pattaya on Wednesday included Shakeira Fairfax, the mother of a crew member, who traveled to Thailand to meet her daughter Jada.
“I’m excited. I’m so full of emotion. I can’t wait to hold her. I can’t wait to snuggle up next to her,” said Shakeira, who hails from Paterson, New Jersey. She spoke to the AP outside Pattaya's Hard Rock Hotel, where city officials welcomed dozens of service members arriving by bus.
She said her daughter, an entry-level seaman, finished basic training in October and shipped out for the Lincoln’s deployment in mid-November, later celebrating her 25th birthday on board.
She said she worried most just after the U.S. launched its initial attack on Iran at the end of February and she was unable to connect with Jada for a while.
“It was an uncertain time. It was a scary time. It was difficult — definitely difficult. But she has a support system. Her friends reached out to me. In fact, one of her good childhood friends is here as well,” she said. “It was a time for us to stick together and trust and believe that she would be OK.”
Another carrier, the usually Asia-based USS George Washington, relieved the Lincoln in the Middle East in August.
The Lincoln is heading home soon, said its commander, Capt. Keeler.
“There’s no big delays about when we are going home,” he said. “We do need to make periodic stops to get supplies.”
And as for future deployments?
“They move us around, where they need us to be,” he said.
