By

Nia Prater,

Intelligencer staff writer, who covers New York politics

USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72) conducts U.S. blockade operations related to the Strait of Hormuz on April 16, 2026, in the Arabian Sea.

The USS Abraham Lincoln is set to be relieved by a new aircraft carrier amid growing reports of dire conditions, dwindling morale, and attempted suicides aboard the warship during its long deployment in support of the United States’s ongoing war with Iran. The news also comes as Defense secretary Pete Hegseth maintains that the U.S. can conduct its blockade of Iran “indefinitely.”