TPC Staff
The Palestine Chronicle / August 15, 2026
Iranian attacks on a key US base in Bahrain have created supply problems for the American aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, operating against Iran.
Bahrain strike disrupts us navy logistics
The US Navy is facing mounting logistical and personnel pressures as its war with Iran stretches major aircraft carrier deployments and forces supply operations thousands of miles away from the main theater of operations, according to a report by The New York Times.
According to the report, supply difficulties aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln began shortly after the opening of the war, when Iranian missiles and attack drones struck a major US naval base in Bahrain in retaliation for the US-Israeli attack on Iran.
The strike destroyed much of the facility, according to the report, severely damaging a logistics hub that the US Navy had relied upon for decades.
With other regional ports also vulnerable to Iranian attacks, the Pentagon turned to Diego Garcia, a British-controlled island in the Indian Ocean, as a principal replacement supply hub.
But Diego Garcia lies roughly 2,200 miles from the two US aircraft carrier strike groups operating in the Gulf of Oman, significantly complicating the Navy’s effort to supply vessels engaged in continuous military operations.
A US military official told The New York Times that the Navy began using Diego Garcia as its main shipment point shortly after the Bahrain facility was heavily damaged.
Iran subsequently targeted Diego Garcia on March 20 with two medium-range ballistic missiles. One fell into the Indian Ocean before reaching the island, while a US Navy warship intercepted the second.
Nearly nine months at sea
The logistical strain has been particularly acute aboard the San Diego-based USS Abraham Lincoln, which has remained at sea for nearly nine months without a “liberty port” allowing sailors to leave the ship for several days.
US Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal raised concerns about conditions facing the Lincoln’s approximately 5,000 sailors in a letter to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, citing reported shortages of basic supplies and deteriorating mental health among crew members.
Bahrain had traditionally been one of two regional ports where US carrier crews could receive respite from extended operations. The other, Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates, remains within range of Iranian missiles.
The prolonged deployment comes as the Lincoln’s sailors have been working to sustain continuous flight operations against Iran and support the US blockade.
Representative Mike Levin of California told The New York Times that relatives of sailors aboard the carrier had contacted his office to express concerns.
“It gets back to that big picture, which is: What is the mission here?” Levin said. “That’s what the families want to know.”
The Lincoln is now expected to be replaced by the USS George Washington, which was traveling west through the Strait of Malacca earlier this week on its way to the Middle East.
The USS George H.W. Bush, meanwhile, has been operating in the region for months after deploying from Norfolk on March 31.
Growing demands on US carrier fleet
The war on Iran has required Washington to commit a significant share of its aircraft carrier fleet at a time when US naval forces are also being deployed elsewhere.
The Trump administration previously used the USS Gerald R. Ford in its pressure campaign against Venezuela before extending its deployment and sending it to the Middle East to conduct strikes against Iran.
The Ford ultimately spent 326 days deployed, according to The New York Times, the longest aircraft carrier deployment since the Vietnam War.
Six months is generally considered a typical peacetime Navy deployment, although longer deployments have occurred during major US wars.
During the Vietnam War, however, carriers conducting sustained operations off the Vietnamese coast could regularly travel to the US naval base at Subic Bay in the Philippines, only about two days away, where sailors could rest and ships could replenish food, fuel, ammunition and other supplies.
The situation facing carriers operating against Iran is markedly different following the destruction of the Bahrain hub and the continued Iranian threat against other Gulf facilities.
Under Navy regulations and tradition, commanders can request a “beer day” after crews have spent at least 45 consecutive days at sea. Based on the length of the Lincoln’s deployment, its sailors would already have qualified for five such occasions.
Trump, Hegseth say operations can continue
Despite concerns over logistics, supplies and extended deployments, the Trump administration has publicly dismissed suggestions that the US Navy is approaching the limits of what it can sustain.
Asked on Friday whether carrier deployments had become too long, Trump replied: “No, no, no, not nearly long enough.”
The previous day, Hegseth was asked how long Washington could maintain its blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.
“We can hold it as long as we need to, indefinitely,” he said.
The reliance on Diego Garcia also illustrates how the war has forced Washington to reorganize its regional military infrastructure.
At the beginning of the war, then-British Prime Minister Keir Starmer initially refused to allow Washington to use Diego Garcia for operations against Iran.
He reversed that decision on March 1, granting the United States access for what he described as a “specific and limited defensive purpose.”
Months later, the remote Indian Ocean base has become a crucial part of the supply network sustaining US naval operations against Iran.
(TPC, The New York Times)
