In Reply to: Wednesday's child is full of woe* posted by mh on August 26, 2026 at 09:30:11
The USS Abraham Lincoln is heading back home to San Diego after a grueling nine-month deployment, but the families of sailors aboard two of its escort destroyers that have been ordered to stay behind are heartbroken and furious.
The USS Spruance, USS Michael Murphy and USS Frank E. Petersen Jr. made up the Lincoln's carrier strike group and were told their mission was to escort and protect the carrier, according to a sailor aboard one of them, but MS NOW reported that only one of them has been ordered back to its home port.
While the Petersen is now headed to its home port in Hawaii, the Murphy and Spruance have not been ordered home to Hawaii and San Diego, respectively, according to family members and a friend with loved ones aboard.
All three destroyers have been deployed alongside the Lincoln since late 2025 — far exceeding the typical seven-month deployment length for a destroyer — and it remains unclear why only one ship is returning while the other two stay behind.