For other Navy ships of the same name, see USS Abraham Lincoln.
Coordinates: 47°58′55.15″N, 122°13′39.94″W
USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72), nicknamed "Abe", is the fifth Nimitz-class supercarrier in the United States Navy. She is the second Navy ship named after former president Abraham Lincoln. Her home port is Everett, Washington.

Construction
Abraham Lincoln was transferred to the Pacific, in September 1990. Her maiden Western Pacific deployment came unexpectedly on 28 May 1991 in response to Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm.
While heading toward the Indian Ocean, the ship was diverted to support evacuation operations after Mount Pinatubo erupted on Luzon island in the Philippines. In support of Operation Fiery Vigil, Lincoln led a 23-ship armada that moved over 45,000 people from the Subic Bay Naval Station to the port of Cebu in the Visayas. It was the largest peacetime evacuation of active military personnel and their families in history.
After Fiery Vigil, Lincoln steamed toward the Persian Gulf, to run reconnaissance and combat air patrols in Iraq and Kuwait, assisting allied and US troops involved with Desert Storm.
In early 1992, the ship supported Operation Southern Watch, the United Nations-sanctioned "no fly zone" over southern Iraq.
In October 1993, the carrier was ordered to the coast of Somalia to assist UN humanitarian operations. For four weeks, Abraham Lincoln flew air patrols over Mogadishu in support of Operation Restore Hope.
Abraham Lincoln was to be the first carrier to integrate female aviators into the crew after the Combat Exclusion Laws were lifted on 28 April 1993. The ship left San Diego on 24 October 1994, to begin refresher training. The next day, Lieutenant Kara Spears Hultgreen, first female F-14 Tomcat pilot, died when her plane crashed into the sea on final approach due to a combination of engine malfunction and pilot error.
Abraham Lincoln's third deployment began in April 1995 when Lincoln was sent to the Persian Gulf, where the ship assisted in Southern Watch and in Operation Vigilant Sentinel.
Abraham Lincoln began a fourth deployment in June 1998. Once again, the ship headed for the Persian Gulf in support of Southern Watch. The ship spent three months in the gulf during one of the hottest summers in recent years. Temperatures on the flight deck were reported at 150 degrees Fahrenheit (66 °C).
In 1999 the ship participated in several internal Navy exercises and underwent an upkeep at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Bremerton, Wash.

2000 to date

The Abraham Lincoln is one of the vessels commonly associated with a famous naval anecdote, in which a stubborn ship's captain, in his ignorance, attempts to persuade what turns out to be a lighthouse off the coast of Newfoundland to change course. This urban legend continually resurfaces and remains a popular subject in joke emails still forwarded around the internet, despite no evidence existing to support the events it describes. Many such emails claim this occurrence took place on 16 October 1997, even though the story appears to have been circulating in some form or other many years previous.
In Tom Clancy's novel Debt of Honor (1994), Abraham Lincoln is one of two carriers sent to protect Sri Lanka from the Indian Navy.
In Tom Clancy's novel Executive Orders (1996), Abraham Lincoln is one of two carriers moved to China to establish a U.S. presence after an airliner is shot down.
In the movie The Core (2003), Abraham Lincoln makes an appearance in a search-and-rescue mission; while not mentioned by name, "CVN-72" caps are readily apparent in scenes on the bridge.
The 2005 movie Stealth features a trio of US Navy pilots that are assigned to Abraham Lincoln.
In Ted Bell's novel Pirate, a new plane is launched from the Abraham Lincoln, fails to launch and falls overboard.
In Spock's Beard's song "Crack the Big Sky" it is referenced in the line "Light the light's on Lincoln's Lake".
In Transformers the Abraham Lincoln is shown as part of the force mobilised to combat the suspected threat to the US. Whilst not mentioned, the deck number is clearly recognisable.