Record deployment for destroyer USS Spruance casts doubt over US Navy maintenance

The Arleigh-Burke class destroyer USS Spruance has set a post-World War II record for a U.S. Navy destroyer deployment and is raising questions about the maintenance work that could follow its eventual return. The ship left Naval Base San Diego on Nov. 21, 2025, as part of the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group. It remained at sea even after the carrier group moved on and the Lincoln returned to its home port. As of Oct. 29, the ship has been deployed for 342 days, a time period that far exceeds the Navy’s commonly cited seven-month deployment benchmark for ships based in the United…