Acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao reported the suicide attempts to Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand following questions about ship conditions.
Eight sailors attempted suicide while deployed with the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier strike group during its record-setting tour supporting the Iran war, Acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao said in a letter to Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand this week.
Cao wrote that no suicides occurred on board during the deployment. The eight attempts took place across the entire 6,000-person strike group over 10 months, a tally that includes crews on the carrier, escorting destroyers, the carrier wing, and embarked aviation squadrons. Experts noted that eight attempts is relatively low compared to broader military data. The Navy reported 356 suicide attempts across the service in 2024, while active-duty personnel across all branches recorded more than 1,500 that year.
Gillibrand, a New York Democrat, questioned Cao last month about crew conditions following reports of high stress, mental health troubles, and shortages of food and hygiene products. In response, Cao said the Lincoln sailed with a psychologist, a clinical social worker, a counselor, three behavioral health technicians and a therapy dog.
Ship conditions and supply issues
Cao acknowledged several maintenance and supply troubles during the deployment. Combat operations restricted resupply opportunities, which briefly reduced daily meal options from two to one, though Cao said sailors still received four nutritionally balanced meals every day. Cao also noted delays in scheduled resupply deliveries, piping failures early in the cruise, and temporary failures with desalination equipment. He said the Navy prioritized deliveries of hygiene products and created a rotation to distribute them among squadrons.
The Lincoln departed its homeport in San Diego in November and arrived in the Middle East in January to support operations against Iran. It spent more than 260 consecutive days at sea while enforcing a blockade on Iranian ports in the Strait of Hormuz. The carrier and several escort ships pulled into Thailand in early September on their way back to California. The Lincoln’s commanding officer, Capt. Dan Keeler, said the ship was returning home soon but declined to provide an exact arrival date.
Dispute over crew welfare
The disclosures follow public comments from administration officials downplaying the severity of the ship’s environment. President Donald Trump previously referred to the nearly nine months at sea as a “good period of time” and noted that crews had experienced longer deployments in the past. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said reports about conditions on the Lincoln were “completely misrepresented.”
Gillibrand condemned those reactions in a statement released after receiving 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 said, arguing that the administration had neglected the troops who make sacrifices daily.
