The U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln had been at sea, carrying out its mission as part of the military action against Iran.
It finally pulled into the Laem Chabang port in the Chonburi province of eastern Thailand on Wednesday, after being deployed for 286 days.
Now the service members could finally get some long-deserved shore leave and have a little fun there. As we reported, they were already being bused into Pattaya to have a little downtime.
But what caught the eye of some onlookers as the ship pulled in was how it looked with a lot of rust on it.
Immediately, you had Chinese, Iranian, and Russian accounts, and even some people on the left, attacking the way the ship looked and/or saying it showed the decline of the U.S. military.
Here's a sample:
The repercussions of the American decline are escalating faster than anticipated. The USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72) aircraft carrier arrived in Thailand covered in rust, a stark reminder of the immense strain it endured during its long service. As American military equipment faces… pic.twitter.com/0xiyggM2Xo
— China pulse 🇨🇳 (@Eng_china5) September 2, 2026
This was an official Iranian embassy account that likes to post smack.
Is this rusty scrap metal Abraham Lincoln?
— Iran Embassy in Zimbabwe (@IRANinZIMBABWE) September 2, 2026
Where did this happen to it? pic.twitter.com/WItS8TBWXd
Even CNN jumped in with a poorly constructed comment.
As the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln pulled into port in Thailand, observers were shocked by its appearance. The almost 1,100-foot-long warship was covered in rust from bow to stern.
— CNN (@CNN) September 3, 2026
But experts say that's to be expected from what the Navy says was 286 days at sea since… pic.twitter.com/Py3Q2E868d
No, it's not "shocking" at all to anyone who knows anything about ships being at sea. At least they say at the end it's to "be expected." So then why are they even putting that story out there, treating it like it's something other than completely normal under the circumstances?
But the Community Note explained reality to the people trying to push propaganda:
The rust on the USS Abraham Lincoln is not a sign of "decline" or obsolescence, but the result of an unusually long deployment.
The note also noted the 286-day deployment.
It's normal wear-and-tear for being at sea that long. If a ship like that hasn't ever had rust, it probably means it hasn't ever left the dock.
As for the Iran regime tweet, hey, you guys don't even have a Navy anymore. It's at the bottom of the sea, so I get that you don't understand why this is normal. What it is is the sign of a ship that did its job and put in the work. What it's a sign of is a ship that successfully did its job enforcing a naval blockade against you, helping to choke the life out of your evil regime, and doing it without getting hit because you couldn't hit it. What it is is a sign of American strength and resilience, not obsolescence. What it is is a sign of the stranglehold that is still there against your regime.
Our service members did their job, dealing with the Iranian regime — and we owe them our thanks. Let's hope they can now get some rest.
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