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Eight Navy members aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln have attempted suicide since the beginning of their extended deployment, a top Navy official said in a letter obtained by NBC News.
The length of the deployment, which some service members on board the carrier had described as extraordinarily tough, has raised concerns about supply shortages and the effect on sailors’ mental health.
No deaths have been attributed to suicide during the deployment.
The number of suicide attempts includes those by crewmembers and sailors from the carrier air wing, strike group and destroyer squadron staff; escorting destroyers; and all embarked aviation squadrons, according to the letter, which acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao sent to Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y.
About 7,500 service members, primarily sailors, are part of the strike group.
A Navy official said the letter was delivered to Gillibrand on Tuesday.
The official said the number of sailors who jumped overboard while the Lincoln was in the Middle East providing operations for the war in Iran remains at two, as previously reported. The official did not provide details about the six other attempts.
In the letter, Cao answered a series of questions that Gillibrand, a member of the Armed Services Committee, had asked Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth in a previous letter.
The letter also addressed Gillibrand’s concerns about conditions and medical resources aboard the Lincoln.
In a statement, Gillibrand said the conditions on the ship were “serious and deteriorating.”
“Our troops and their families make immense sacrifices every single day, yet the president dismissed them with open disrespect,” she said.
President Donald Trump has previously said the deployment was “not nearly long enough.”
The ship was at sea without a port call for 286 days supporting the U.S. war with Iran. A typical deployment is six to seven months, with regular stops to replenish food supplies.
The Lincoln left San Diego in November. Its deployment was supposed to end in May, but it was extended after the war began in February. The ship stopped in Thailand this month and is now sailing back to San Diego after a stop in Guam.
Relatives of those on board raised concerns about food shortages and low morale and how the extended time at sea was “wreaking havoc” on sailors’ mental health, as one relative described it to NBC News last month.
Some military officials have played down or rejected those claims. In an op-ed in The Wall Street Journal last month, Adm. Brad Cooper, the commander of U.S. Central Command, described the concerns as “old news” that were resolved months ago.
This summer, a Navy official said that officials had not observed an increase in suicidal ideations or attempts aboard the ship and that service members’ well-being was a top priority.
“We take every service member’s well-being seriously and have religious, medical and mental health professionals available to assess and address concerns as they arise,” the official said in a statement.
The Lincoln has five chaplains, a clinical psychologist, a clinical social worker, behavioral health technicians and an embedded integrated prevention coordination counselor to support the crew, the Navy official said.
If you or someone you know is struggling or in emotional distress, call or text 988 or chat at 988lifeline.org 24/7 to reach the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. For additional resources, visit SpeakingOfSuicide.com/resources.
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8 sailors in USS Lincoln group attempted suicide on extended deployment, Navy leader says
WASHINGTON (AP) — Eight sailors attempted suicide while deployed with the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier strike group, which spent a record-setting uninterrupted time at sea supporting the Iran war, the Navy’s top civilian leader said this week.
Acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao provided the information to Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand in a letter dated Tuesday after the New York Democrat inquired last month about the strike group’s crew of thousands. The Lincoln’s extended deployment drew the nation’s attention following reports of crew stress and poor mental health, as well as supply shortages, including food and hygiene products.
Gillibrand asked Cao specifically if there were any suicides.
“There have been no suicides on board during this deployment,” Cao wrote in the letter, which was obtained by The Associated Press and reported earlier by CNN. “Since the beginning of LINCOLN’S deployment, there have been a total of eight suicide attempts across the strike group — this number includes the LINCOLN crew and Sailors from the carrier wing, strike group and destroyer squadron staff, escorting destroyers, and all embarked aviation squadrons.”
President Donald Trump had downplayed reports about conditions on the Lincoln, which left its homeport in San Diego in November, arrived in the Middle East in January in support of Iran operations, and spent a record-setting uninterrupted time at sea of more than 260 days.
The carrier and some of its supporting ships stopped in Thailand in early September on their way back home to California. The Lincoln’s commanding officer, Capt. Dan Keeler, said then that the ship will be heading home soon but may make further supply stops. He declined to comment on the exact date the strike group is expected back in the U.S.
Last month, Trump called the nearly nine months at sea that the sailors endured a “good period of time” but added that “over the years, we’ve had them out there much longer.”
Trump told reporters in August that he spoke with a retired admiral who recounted being on ships for “much longer.” Trump said the admiral assured him that the Lincoln is “beautifully maintained and beautifully taken care of.” Trump did not name the admiral.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth also had said that conditions about the Lincoln were “completely misrepresented.”
Gillibrand took aim at both in a statement released this week in response to Cao’s letter.
“What Trump and Secretary Hegseth dismissed as ‘fake news’ turned out to be serious and deteriorating conditions for our service members,” she stated.
“Our troops and their families make immense sacrifices every single day, yet the president dismissed them with open disrespect,” Gillibrand said. “That this administration can find endless taxpayer dollars for bombs, ballrooms, and billionaires, but cannot take care of our service members, is completely unacceptable.”
Extended deployments of carriers wear on service members who are away from home for long periods and increase strain on the ship and its equipment. The Navy is continuing to enforce a blockade on Iranian ports in the Strait of Hormuz, and the Trump administration has offered no clarity on how it intends to wind down the war.
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Navy says eight sailors attempted suicide across U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln strike group
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Navy says eight sailors attempted suicide across U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln strike group
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The Navy has stated in a letter that eight people attempted suicide across the U.S.S. Lincoln strike group. The information was released after a lawmaker inquired into the numbers following a particularly difficult deployment for the strike group. Sept. 23, 2026
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