US Confirmation Places the Lincoln Under Scrutiny After Eight Suicide Attempts
The US Navy has acknowledged that eight suicide attempts were recorded among Navy personnel during an aircraft carrier’s prolonged deployment to the Middle East.
The information appeared in a letter reviewed by Agence France-Presse and sent by acting US Secretary of the Navy Hung Cao in response to an inquiry from Democratic Senator Kirsten Gillibrand about conditions aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln.
Reports of deteriorating living conditions and declining mental health aboard the carrier since its deployment last November had made headlines in the United States. They also prompted criticism of President Donald Trump’s war against Iran.
The Navy secretary, the service’s highest-ranking civilian official, wrote that “since the beginning of the Lincoln’s deployment, a total of eight suicide attempts involving the entire carrier strike group have been recorded.”
The letter added that “no suicides occurred aboard the ship during this deployment.”
It also provided further details about some of the attempts.
In early August, a sailor assigned to the carrier air wing “fell overboard into the sea.” The sailor was quickly recovered by a search-and-rescue helicopter and evacuated from the ship to receive medical care.
Another sailor “attempted to throw himself overboard in March, but his colleagues prevented him from doing so.” He was subsequently returned to his home base.
The USS Abraham Lincoln departed California in November 2025 for a mission in the South China Sea.
It was later redirected to the Middle East before the US-Israeli attacks against Iran began in late February 2026.
The carrier stopped in Thailand in early September after spending 286 days at sea.
In August, military families and lawmakers raised serious concerns over reports of suicide attempts, other severe mental health problems, food shortages and poor hygiene aboard the aircraft carrier.
Trump dismissed the allegations at the time.
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth also insisted that conditions aboard the carrier had been “misleadingly portrayed.”
