# USS Abraham Lincoln **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [August 15, 2026, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uss-abraham-lincoln/1032359 "2026-08-15T21:31:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 32
**Author:** ![Stratocaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stratocaster/32/16393_2.png) [@Stratocaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stratocaster)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2026, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uss-abraham-lincoln/1032359/622 "2026-09-04T13:04:12Z")
> [@Thumper668](#): > > There is in fact 1 dog aboard the Lincoln. Really? While I fully support the notion of dogs being available for pets and snuggles, is there a reason a dog is onboard? ---
**Author:** ![Thumper668](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thumper668/32/20803_2.png) [@Thumper668](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thumper668)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2026, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uss-abraham-lincoln/1032359/623 "2026-09-04T13:07:02Z")
> [@Stratocaster](#): > > is there a reason a dog is onboard? Yes, for the morale and mental wellness of the crew. It’s called an Expeditionary Facility Dog. The Lincoln has a fox red yellow lab named Fathom on board. [Fathom — Mutts With A Mission](https://www.muttswithamission.org/fathom) ---
**Author:** ![Stratocaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stratocaster/32/16393_2.png) [@Stratocaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stratocaster)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2026, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uss-abraham-lincoln/1032359/624 "2026-09-04T13:11:49Z")
Thanks for the info. That is so awesome. I hope he provides sailors with tons of love and comfort. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2026, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uss-abraham-lincoln/1032359/625 "2026-09-04T15:10:24Z")
> [@Thumper668](#): > > Yes, for the morale and mental wellness of the crew. It’s called an Expeditionary Facility Dog. There’s about 5000 people on that ship. No doubt some of them are not dog people, but the rest are all competing for the attention of one dog? ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2026, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uss-abraham-lincoln/1032359/626 "2026-09-04T15:10:49Z")
> [@robby](#): > > As for littoral combat ships, they are still working out the bugs on these. They’re already even _retiring_ some LCS ahead of schedule even as the full order is still being delivered. Apparently the bugs on those are such the Navy finds a true mid-life refit would be too expensive. I suppose the delay to properly start a line of new-gen frigates will keep many of them on duty, though. (BTW for those next-gen frigates the Navy DID at one point have the reasonably good idea of adapting an already-in-service NATO platform for the actual ship, rather than design from a blank screen. But what I read is that then the US being the US decided all the important systems had to be US-designed and made latest-and-greatest, multiple contractors in multiple congressmen’s districts had to be involved, and they had to be do-everything units. By the time they gave up only 2 of those will be built at a great overcost since they have to absorb the development spend. Now the new, new!! next-gen frigate concept is going to be to take the Coast Guard’s current top-of-the-line cutter and tuner it out with whatever real-fighting weapons and sensors can fit.) ---
**Author:** ![ASL\_v2.0](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asl_v2.0/32/3525_2.png) [@ASL\_v2.0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASL_v2.0)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2026, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uss-abraham-lincoln/1032359/627 "2026-09-04T15:17:44Z")
> [@JRDelirious](#): > > next-gen frigate concept is going to be to take the Coast Guard’s current top-of-the-line cutter and tuner it out with whatever real-fighting weapons and sensors can fit. Haven’t they already rejected that concept? Or maybe I’m just recalling conversations from people who are saying it damn well ought to have been rejected out of hand. Because you know what Coast Guard cutters aren’t designed for? Anti-submarine warfare. That means no accounting for a sonar dome, no towed array, and also the equipment is not designed to minimize acoustic interference with said sonar dome and towed array. You can’t just glue those things onto a hull. There is also a lot of internal equipment and re-working of equipment that needs to go onto accommodating such an addition. Just for starters. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_stainless_steel_rat/32/5727_2.png) [@The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Stainless_Steel_Rat)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2026, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uss-abraham-lincoln/1032359/628 "2026-09-04T15:19:41Z")
> [@Thumper668](#): > > Yes, for the morale and mental wellness of the crew. It’s called an Expeditionary Facility Dog. The Lincoln has a fox red yellow lab named Fathom on board. So, an Offog? (obscure Science fiction joke). Press on. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2026, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uss-abraham-lincoln/1032359/629 "2026-09-04T15:37:55Z")
> [@ASL\_v2.0](#): > > Haven’t they already rejected that concept? Or maybe I’m just recalling conversations from people who are saying it damn well ought to have been rejected out of hand. They first rejected it in favor of using the Fincantieri hull designs, then now are bringing it back up apparenly because Huntington-Ingalls said “hey, we have a spare Legend-class keel and production line we could mod for you quickly. ” > **[U.S. Navy wants first FF(X) frigate in the water by 2028 - Naval News](https://www.navalnews.com/naval-news/2026/05/u-s-navy-wants-first-ffx-frigate-in-the-water-by-2028/)** > > The U.S. Navy has laid out it's plans for the new FF(X) program, seeking to rapidly field a new class of smaller surface vessels with the launch of the first Frigate taking place in the first Quarter of Fiscal Year 2029 (late calendar year 2028) So apparently more a stretch than just cramming the mission into the same ship as I implied. More experienced minds than mine ARE saying USN and American yards should just shove their pride up their well decks and straight out buy or license-build any of various frigate hull models made by our allies as-is. Of course we know it’s now kind of a particularly awkward time to do _ **that** _ … ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2026, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uss-abraham-lincoln/1032359/630 "2026-09-04T16:02:15Z")
I’m hearing more and more than the US Navy is very open to such a plan. Whether its former allies, as it really doesn’t have any true allies anymore, would be willing to do so is a different matter. What you AREN’T hearing about is the idiotic “Trump class” “battleship.” ---
**Author:** ![Common\_Tater](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/common_tater/32/13846_2.png) [@Common\_Tater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Common_Tater)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2026, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uss-abraham-lincoln/1032359/631 "2026-09-04T16:19:40Z")
> [@Dissonance](#): > > the answer is that we already are by virtue of declaring a blockade of the country. Well, Cuba has been asshoe since the 1950s, but that isn’t news. ---
**Author:** ![Common\_Tater](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/common_tater/32/13846_2.png) [@Common\_Tater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Common_Tater)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2026, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uss-abraham-lincoln/1032359/632 "2026-09-04T16:25:05Z")
> [@Thumper668](#): > > Next we’ll be hearing that they ate literal sh\*t on literal shingles SOS! Now that’s some fine dining right there. I overheard this phrase from one of my playmates, and repeated at the dinner table and whilst dear old dad was a USN veteran, dear old mom was Not Happy to hear expletives out of young tater’s mouth. Oops. Another time, I must have been watching _Gunsmoke_ or something like that, I inquired about “what kind of Grub do we got around here, Ma?” I was reliably informed by my father “In this house we do not refer to your mother’s cooking as “grub”, is that clear?” LOL ---
**Author:** ![Thumper668](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thumper668/32/20803_2.png) [@Thumper668](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thumper668)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2026, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uss-abraham-lincoln/1032359/633 "2026-09-04T17:13:54Z")
> [@Common\_Tater](#): > > SOS! Now that’s some fine dining right there. I have an irrational nostalgic attachment to it. I have never heard of SOS been served anywhere outside a Navy galley, but several years ago I acquired a copy of _Submarine Cuisine_ compiled by Edward Monroe-Jones. It has scaled down recipes provided by submarine Mess Specialists and includes one for both SOS and its creamy cousin Foreskins. I have made and enjoyed both of them. Mrs. Thumper wasn’t so enthusiastic, so for further authenticity I only make them after 11 PM (midrats). She did like it when I made Hamsters (chicken cordon bleu), so that makes regular appearances at the dinner table. Horsecock, on the other hand, will never again pass my lips. ---
**Author:** ![Dorjan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dorjan/32/12440_2.png) [@Dorjan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dorjan)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2026, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uss-abraham-lincoln/1032359/634 "2026-09-04T17:14:23Z")
It’s a mascot. Sounds like you are trying to make a thing out of something that’s not a thing? ---
**Author:** ![Common\_Tater](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/common_tater/32/13846_2.png) [@Common\_Tater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Common_Tater)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2026, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uss-abraham-lincoln/1032359/635 "2026-09-04T17:17:45Z")
> [@Thumper668](#): > > Mrs. Thumper wasn’t so enthusiastic, so for further authenticity I only make them after 11 PM (midrats). She did like it when I made Hamsters (chicken cordon bleu), so that makes regular appearances at the dinner table. Horsecock, on the other hand, will never again pass my lips. Ha! I’d _still_ be grounded, if I’d used some of those words. I heard someone refer to Brussel Sprouts as “Satan’s Dingleberries” which I would have employed had I been aware. Dad would have laughed, I just know it. ---
**Author:** ![Thumper668](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thumper668/32/20803_2.png) [@Thumper668](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thumper668)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2026, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uss-abraham-lincoln/1032359/636 "2026-09-04T17:19:56Z")
> [@dtilque](#): > > but the rest are all competing for the attention of one dog? > [@Dorjan](#): > > It’s a mascot. He’s a bit more than a mascot. Fathom has dedicated handlers and a schedule for when and to whom he is available. I’ve never been on a ship with an EFD, so I have no idea how that is handled on an aircraft carrier, but I’d have been delighted if it had been an option when I was on USS Yorktown (CG-48). ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2026, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uss-abraham-lincoln/1032359/637 "2026-09-04T17:24:35Z")
We didn’t even have a cat on board, nevermind a dog. 1980s, USS Ranger CV-61. My understanding was there was a time when ships still had cats, post WWII, but gone by my time. Are the cats back also? ---
**Author:** ![Dorjan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dorjan/32/12440_2.png) [@Dorjan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dorjan)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2026, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uss-abraham-lincoln/1032359/638 "2026-09-04T17:38:51Z")
All ships should have a ship’s cat. ---
**Author:** ![Thumper668](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thumper668/32/20803_2.png) [@Thumper668](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thumper668)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2026, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uss-abraham-lincoln/1032359/639 "2026-09-04T17:49:29Z")
No thanks. A ship that smells like cat piss is worse than whatever benefit having a cat aboard would provide. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2026, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uss-abraham-lincoln/1032359/640 "2026-09-04T17:51:10Z")
> [@Thumper668](#): > > I have an irrational nostalgic attachment to it. I have never heard of SOS been served anywhere outside a Navy galley, but several years ago I acquired a copy of _Submarine Cuisine_ compiled by Edward Monroe-Jones. It has scaled down recipes provided by submarine Mess Specialists and includes one for both SOS and its creamy cousin Foreskins. I have made and enjoyed both of them. Mrs. Thumper wasn’t so enthusiastic, so for further authenticity I only make them after 11 PM (midrats). She did like it when I made Hamsters (chicken cordon bleu), so that makes regular appearances at the dinner table. Horsecock, on the other hand, will never again pass my lips. I learned about Creamed Chipped Beef on Toast from a fellow Boy Scout, whose father was in the Navy. We were never served such rations in Boy Scouts, but in one of his books Dave Barry (of all people) nostalgically recalls eating this at home, and being a fan. Even after the pressure cooker exploded and coated the walls and ceiling of their kitchen with the mixture. ---
**Author:** ![Dorjan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dorjan/32/12440_2.png) [@Dorjan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dorjan)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2026, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uss-abraham-lincoln/1032359/641 "2026-09-04T17:55:13Z")
> [@Thumper668](#): > > No thanks. A ship that smells like cat piss is worse than whatever benefit having a cat aboard would provide. That would have to be one hell of a cat to accomplish that, lol. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uss-abraham-lincoln/1032359.md?page=31) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uss-abraham-lincoln/1032359.md?page=33)