New US carrier arrives in Mideast to relieve long-deployed ship
The USS George Washington carrier strike group has arrived in the Middle East to replace the USS Abraham Lincoln, after reports of poor conditions aboard the long-deployed carrier.
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WASHINGTON: A new US aircraft carrier strike group has arrived in the Middle East, the US military announced Thursday (Aug 20), after conditions aboard a long-deployed carrier provoked fresh criticism of US President Donald Trump's war against Iran.
"The George Washington Carrier Strike Group is operating in Middle East during a scheduled deployment after arriving in the CENTCOM theatre yesterday," Central Command (CENTCOM), which oversees US forces in the Middle East, said in a post on X.
The update comes just days after media reports on grim conditions aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier - deployed since November 2025 - had created an unwelcome distraction for Trump in his attempt to sell the already unpopular war.
Several outlets, including specialist military publications, quoted relatives of crew members as saying that living conditions had deteriorated on the Lincoln, with food shortages and broken plumbing.
Notably, there have been reports of several suicide attempts.
Trump dismissed the concerns but confirmed another carrier would swap out with the Lincoln.
The Japan-based USS George Washington had been operating in the Pacific.
Its transfer means there is no longer any US aircraft carrier in that region - a boon for an assertive China.
The Lincoln had departed California in November 2025 for duty in the South China Sea and was rerouted to the Middle East before US-Israeli attacks on Iran that began in late February.
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