When the aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln entered a Thai port on Wednesday, observers were shocked by its appearance. The approximately 1,100-foot-long warship was covered in rust from bow to stern.
But experts say that’s to be expected since the Navy said the Lincoln had been at sea for 286 days since leaving its home port of San Diego last November. The warship also participated in months of combat and blockade operations against Iran in the Middle East.
“It’s not uncommon for ships that have been at sea for more than 60 days to have rust along the waterline,” said Karl Schuster, a retired U.S. Navy captain who served three tours on Nimitz-class aircraft carriers such as the Lincoln.
Schuster told CNN that tackling the rust problem is not something that can be done at sea, especially during combat operations.
Schuster said the crew had to be lowered to the waterline, sand the rust off, apply two coats of anti-corrosion primer and then apply two coats of navy gray paint.
“From what I see, it will require about 30 days of preservation work to remove all the rust,” he said.
Schuster added that some work may be done in key areas during his stay in Thailand.
The Lincoln entered Laem Chabang Port in the Gulf of Thailand, south of Bangkok, on Wednesday for a visit expected to last several days to give the crew their first full rest and relaxation after a marathon deployment.
“During the seven-day port stay, they will only perform high-priority work. The bow and front of the hull are rusted first because they are most heavily used when the ship is in motion, and they also absorb the corrosive effects of moving in salt water, especially in choppy waters,” Schuster said.
He said some of the rust on the upper layer can be treated while the ship is underway, but repairs along the waterline require it to be stationary and unaffected by waves.
However, it is an issue that cannot be ignored.
“Rust is like a contagious disease. It spreads, so it’s better to deal with it early and contain it, or deal with bigger problems later,” Schuster says.
“Any steel structure it attacks will be weakened, so it needs to be removed before it has a decisive impact on components such as decks, walkways and lifelines,” he says.
Rust isn’t the only problem with long-term Lincoln deployments. There have also been reports of morale problems due to lack of supplies and that at least one crew member has gone overboard.
But US President Donald Trump dismissed concerns, saying Lincoln’s deployment was “not long enough.”
President Trump has not commented on the Lincoln’s condition since it arrived in Thailand.
But the U.S. president has in the past asked the Navy to spruce up the appearance of warships facing long-term deployments in his second administration.
Last year, then-Secretary of the Navy John Phelan said President Trump would call him in the middle of the night about the rust issue.
“He kept saying to me, ‘Shipbuilding, shipbuilding, shipbuilding. Get those ships out of the maintenance yards. Fix the bad rust,'” Phelan said at a conference in Maryland, Task & Purpose reported. “He doesn’t like it, and I don’t like getting phone calls in the middle of the night either.”
Sailors also don’t like it, Schuster said.
“Fighting rust is one of the two most unpopular naval activities. The other involves plumbing. Both are frowned upon as a junior officer on a ship.”
