WASHINGTON – Eight sailors attempted suicide during the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier strike group’s deployment, which lasted a record-setting period without interruption while supporting the war with Iran, the Navy’s top civilian official said this week.
Acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao disclosed the figure in a Tuesday letter to Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, a New York Democrat who had asked last month about conditions affecting the thousands of sailors in the strike group. The Lincoln’s prolonged deployment attracted national attention after reports of mounting stress, deteriorating mental health and shortages of basic supplies, including food and hygiene products.
Gillibrand had specifically asked whether any sailors had died by suicide.
“There have been no suicides on board during this deployment,” Cao wrote in the letter, obtained by The Associated Press and first reported 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 dismissed concerns about conditions aboard the Lincoln. The carrier departed its homeport in San Diego in November, reached the Middle East in January to support operations involving Iran and ultimately spent more than 260 consecutive days at sea, setting a record.
The carrier and several support ships stopped in Thailand in early September while making their way back to California. Capt. Dan Keeler, the Lincoln’s commanding officer, said at the time that the ship would soon resume its journey home but could make additional stops to replenish supplies. He declined to provide a specific date for the strike group’s return to the United States.
Last month, Trump described the sailors’ nearly nine months at sea as a “good period of time,” while adding that “over the years, we’ve had them out there much longer.”
Trump also told reporters in August that he had spoken with a retired admiral who said he had spent “much longer” periods aboard ships. According to Trump, the admiral assured him that the Lincoln was “beautifully maintained and beautifully taken care of.” Trump did not identify the admiral.
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Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth likewise said reports about conditions aboard the Lincoln had been “completely misrepresented.”
Gillibrand criticized both officials in a statement issued this week after Cao’s letter became public.
“What Trump and Secretary Hegseth dismissed as ‘fake news’ turned out to be serious and deteriorating conditions for our service members,” she said.
“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.”
Long carrier deployments can take a heavy toll on service members separated from their families for extended periods while also placing additional strain on ships and equipment. The Navy continues to enforce a blockade of Iranian ports in the Strait of Hormuz, and the Trump administration has not explained how it plans to bring the war to an end.
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EDITOR’S NOTE — This story includes discussion of suicide. If you or someone you know needs help, the national suicide and crisis lifeline in the U.S. is available by calling or texting 988. There is also an online chat at 988lifeline.org.
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