'Feels Like Everybody Is Dead': Morale Remains Low as Uss Abraham Lincoln Heads Home After 270 Days at Sea

Five thousand sailors spent 272 days at sea with no shore leave, dwindling food and water, and a mental health crisis that drove some to attempt suicide (Credit: PH2 Tracy Lee Didas, U.S. Navy/Wikimedia Commons)

The USS Abraham Lincoln is heading back to San Diego after what the Navy says is a record-breaking 272 consecutive days at sea, the longest continuous deployment in modern US naval history.

Its crew of around 5,000 sailors and Marines, now relieved in the region by the USS George Washington, are returning home after more than nine months in the Middle East without a single port call.