No privacy, little downtime: Life aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln

NPR | By Kai McNamee,

Emily Feng, Janaya Williams

Published August 14, 2026 at 4:49 PM EDT

Almost 5,000 sailors have spent months aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln. As another carrier heads to relieve them, a former pilot takes us inside life on the ship.

Kai McNamee

Emily Feng

Emily Feng is a White House correspondent at NPR. Previously, she was a foreign correspondent for NPR covering China, Taiwan and beyond.

See stories by Emily Feng

Janaya Williams

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