{"id":36060,"date":"2017-05-20T13:00:00","date_gmt":"2017-05-20T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2017\/05\/20\/carrier-abraham-lincoln-redelivered-after-a-four-year-overhaul\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T19:43:59","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T19:43:59","slug":"carrier-abraham-lincoln-redelivered-after-a-four-year-overhaul","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/your-navy\/2017\/05\/20\/carrier-abraham-lincoln-redelivered-after-a-four-year-overhaul\/","title":{"rendered":"Carrier Abraham Lincoln redelivered after a four-year overhaul"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

NORFOLK, Va.\u00a0\u2014\u00a0The Navy\u2019s aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln was redelivered to the fleet by Newport News Shipbuilding after completing a four-year mid-life refueling and modernization servicing. Built to last 50 years, the Nimitz-class carrier was redelivered on May 12 after completing four days of sea trials, where a team of ship’s crew, yard workers and Navy officials put the ship through the paces. “The sea trials period we completed today went exceptionally well,”\u00a0said Capt. Ronald Ravelo, Lincoln\u2019s commanding officer. “Of course there was some discovery, the ship hasn\u2019t been underway for over four years, but everything went for the most part on schedule.”Not everything was smooth, given the long absence from operating at sea. Many of the ship’s crew were getting underway for the first time in their careers, despite being stationed on the ship for a few years already. The ship, too, needed to fully stretch its legs. “During the buildup to our high-speed runs we had to do some cleaning of our lube oil coolers, things like that,” said Ravelo. “It wasn\u2019t like anything broke, per se, the lube oil coolers rely on sea water and they needed to be cleaned out as we went into our high-speed runs.”The mid-life servicing included a refueling of the carrier\u2019s nuclear power plant, a modernization of its computer and warfighting systems throughout the ship and total rework of its flight deck gear.\u00a0But most notable\u00a0\u2014\u00a0in terms of the Navy’s future\u00a0\u2014\u00a0is that Lincoln is the first ship that has been reworked to accommodate the new F-35C Lightning aircraft which is expected to enter the fleet in the next few years.\u00a0The ship’s high-speed turns were arguably the highlight of the at-sea period, not only for senior sailors like Ravelo, but for some of the crew’s most junior members.\u00a0Boatswain’s Mate 3rd Class Addison Mila has been on board the ship for nearly three years, but before these trials, his only time at sea was during temporary duty to qualify as a helmsman while on board the carrier Truman.\u00a0Time spent qualifying, though, wasn’t anything compared to being at the ship’s helm during the high-speed turns.\u00a0“It was awesome,” said Mila. “The reason we do those big turns is to see how the ship reacts\u00a0\u2014\u00a0if the ship needed to quickly move to avoid an unexpected navigational hazard, we rely on these tests to understand how our ship would perform.”