The Abraham Lincoln
was the fifth George Washington
-class nuclear power
, registry SSBN-602. It served in the United States Navy
, based at Guam
. With sixteen nuclear-capable Polaris
missile launchers, it was designed to rain hell on the Soviet Union
from afar. After two decades of service, the Lincoln
ed to make room for newer Ohio
The name, however, was resurrected in 1982, when the Navy ordered a fifth Nimitz-class aircraft carrier, CVN-72, and decided to name it after the sixteenth president. Abraham Lincoln was constructed at Newport News, Virginia, and was commissioned in November 1989. After a tour of South America, the Lincoln was sent on an emergency deployment to help evacuation efforts at Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines in 1991. Once the situation in the Philippines was stable, the Lincoln cruised to the Persian Gulf to assist in the Gulf War.
Since then, the Lincoln has served in Operation Southern Watch, Operation Restore Hope, and Operation Vigilant Sentinel, while cruising the Pacific Ocean in between deployments. In 1997, its base was moved to Everett, Washington, where it remains today.
After a yearlong refit and overhaul at Everett, the Lincoln was deployed to the Persian Gulf again, this time for Operation Iraqi Freedom. To announce the end of the major theater war, on May 1, 2003, President George W. Bush landed on the carrier in the copilot's seat of an S-3 Viking, becoming the first sitting president to make a carrier landing. (He originally wanted to arrive in an F/A-18 Hornet, but the Secret Service had issues with that idea.)
In addition to Hornets and Vikings, the Lincoln carries flights of F-14 Tomcats, E-2 Hawkeyes, EA-6B Prowlers, and SH-60 Seahawks. Its official website is: https://www.cvn72.navy.mil/