US Navy aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) and ships from its carrier strike group entered the US 5th Fleet area of operations on May 9 after transiting the Suez Canal.

The Abraham Lincoln CSG (ABESCG) arrived in the Middle East a little earlier than initially planned, following an announcement from the US National Security Council that the carrier would be deployed to the Strait of Hormuz “in response to a number of troubling and escalatory indications and warnings” about a possible Iranian attack on US or ally forces.