Saw this interesting page; 8 of the carriers are in port right now.
Seems a little bit like a “Special Military Operation” to me.
I did a little digging, and apparently there was some sort of Iranian attack or threat to the Fifth Fleet and Naval Forces Central Command base in Bahrain, and it disrupted the supply chain to the Abraham Lincoln.
Between that, the greater difficulty of underway replenishment in such a closed-up sea, and the likelihood that stuff like fuel and ordnance were prioritized would explain a lot of it.
And only 3 carriers at sea would explain why they didn’t just sail the Lincoln out to Diego Garcia or even just out into the Indian Ocean away from any Iranian threats to replenish.
It’s a perfect shitstorm of inadequate planning for political reasons and poor timing for the same reasons. I have every reason to believe that the officers in charge knew how to do this right, but were hamstrung by political considerations as to the timing of the war. Or maybe Hegseth ran out the competent officers and all we’ve got left are rah-rah MAGA types who should never have been promoted.
Either way, it sounds eerily Soviet Union-esque.
It does, doesn’t it.
Skim some for myself, and then it keeps on going down the line until nothing is left.
Vlad taught him ‘well’.
Yup, it’d be horribly impractical to supply an aircraft carrier entirely by air. It was also horribly impractical to supply the entire city of Berlin entirely by air. But it was still done.
For those interested in more information, here’s a Guardian article from Weds 8/12 about the issues on the Lincoln, included multiple reported attempts to commit suicide by jumping overboard. There are links in these quotes to more direct sourcing.
Two leading specialist military papers, the Navy Times and Stars and Stripes, are reporting that there have been multiple attempts by sailors to jump overboard as poor conditions and mental stresses on the Lincoln reach the breaking point. The crew is in its ninth month at sea, and has spent 250 days consecutively without making land – a record for an aircraft carrier in modern times.
The Navy Times gave details of thwarted suicide attempts onboard the aircraft carrier during the current deployment. Annabelle Loma told the outlet that her husband had tried to jump overboard after his spell at sea kept being extended.
“He’s scared. He thinks he’ll get a dishonorable discharge, and just because he was burnt out his 13-year career is ruined, just like that,” she said.
A C-130 Hercules has been landed and launched from a carrier just to see if it could be done. I would suspect it was empty except for the pilot. It is not used for resupply because of the risk. The Grumman C-2 has a 10,000 pound payload and the Osprey (a VTOL) can carry 20,000 pounds. But you have to be able to have a nearby resupply depot that includes any esoteric parts. Also, an airplane can’t refuel a ship. That’s not a problem for the Abe Lincoln, however, as it’s a nuke.
All that aside, a huge factor is crew morale. Nine months can seem like an eternity. I did a nine-month deployment to Guam, and while that’s not on a ship, it was still a living hell. Morale was in the toilet, to the point where someone drove a bulldozer into the administration building and the Ops Officer was relieved of his duties after the ensuing investigation.
You can also land helicopters on a carrier. Is there any reason why the Lincoln can’t be resupplied by Chinooks and CH-53s?
Once again (third time), the supply depot in Kuwait was destroyed by Irani missiles. Where would you suggest they obtain these supplies and parts, when the range of a Chinook is only 400 miles?
Hegseth thinks you just need big strong (mostly white) men to run an army, no need for those poindexters in logistics, supply, etc. Just a few more jumping jacks and the Lincoln would have been fine.
Why haven’t supply ships been sent? ISTM they could load up in the United States, and be on-site in maybe a month. (Also: Why aren’t we hearing anything about the other ships in the task force?)
This escapade was not well-planned. Trump and Hegseth got us into a scrape that they figured was going to be a walk in the park, so did nothing to gear up for what could be a long haul. Now they have to play catch-up on logistics without making it seem like we’re going to be there for years, not days.
Because it is a carrier group. The Lincoln is the important ship and the rest are the escorts. If the nuclear carrier is having it rough with supplies, the smaller ships are probably having it worse. Pretty typical.
And this is inexcusable. It should have been done.
I think this was answered earlier:
The commander in chief said the war would be over in a few days, a week tops. So no need to get supply ships ready, stores put aboard, etc. No need for planning for the ship to be at sea for months and months. No need for any planning for what happens if Iran actually retaliates and , say, destroys the supply station in Kuwait.
No need for any of this planning shit. NOW, of course, they are saying “why didn’t someone plan for this and get the supply ships ready to go months ago?”
TLDR: They did not plan in advance for the obvious consequences because the fucking idiots are in charge.
It probably has, but day late, dollar short, etc.
But after the first couple of months, especially with the supply depot being damaged the day after Trump started the war, you’d think they’d get a clue. Anyway, a quick Google search indicates Shuaiba Port in Kuwait is fully operational. What, ‘Oh, we don’t need to go to port. We’re almost done!’? Or is Trump afraid of a drone attack on Abraham Lincoln? (I thought defences were able to negate the threat.)
It was never, ever considered. Just like the Strait of Hurmuz closing. I’m sure some low level person said …uh oh… but was reprimanded that the orange idiot is always right. Why is no one pushing back? that’s the real question.
Then build a new one! The U.S. military is better at building things than anyone in history - the envy of the military world. The Seabees could build a new depot with their eyes closed.
I love all the people in this thread who think that operating an aircraft carrier fleet in combat conditions is so easy that the fact that they’re having supply problems after a literal record breaking deployment must be due to incompetence or a lack of will.
“Why don’t they just…”
“But can’t they…”
“Wouldn’t it be easy to…”
I mean, the fact that they’re on a record-breaking deployment is itself due to incompetence and lack of will.
Sure, at the political level. This is an operational problem though, the Navy could solve it itself if there was an easy solution. There’s a reason deployments like this aren’t normal though, and it’s because the “easy” solutions being bandied about aren’t actually easy or solutions.
Eta: there is an easy solution, which is to rotate back to port at a reasonable time. Full stop. That’s what needs to happen and that’s why relief is on the way, just way too late. There was nothing else they could have done.