Multiple crew members reportedly attempted to jump overboard during the deployment, as sailors aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln struggle with the strain of spending nine months at sea, with families raising concerns about their mental and physical health.
A Carrier Stretched To Its Limits
The Abraham Lincoln has now logged nine months at sea, a record 250+ consecutive days without docking, straining its roughly 5,000-strong crew of sailors and marines, according to a report by Military Times.
The ship departed San Diego on November 21, 2025 en route to the Pacific but was diverted to the Middle East once the war with broke out between Israel and Iran.
Since then, the crew has had just two brief stints ashore, one in Guam in December, another in Oman in July, as per a report by MS Now.
Originally they were to wrap up in May, the deployment has been extended repeatedly and is now in its fifth month of combat operations against Iran.
Families Call For Help
At a San Diego town hall last week, roughly 200 relatives confronted acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao over the toll the deployment is taking, Stars and Stripes reported.
One woman told Cao that her husband had messaged her that day saying, "he hopes he doesn't wake up tomorrow." Another family member accused Navy leadership of eroding the confidence families once had, saying the Navy had "broken trust between us and the leadership."
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At least six US service members aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln have reportedly tried to jump overboard during its prolonged deployment.
Annabelle Loma told Military Times her husband tried to jump after his deployment was extended yet again. "He's scared. He thinks he'll get a dishonourable discharge, and just because he was burnt out his 13-year career is ruined, just like that," she said.
The wife of another sailor told the outlet that her husband had to pull a fellow crew member back onto the deck after he tried to jump overboard.
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Complaints Over Living Conditions
The mental strain has coincided with complaints about deteriorating conditions onboard.
California Congressman Mike Levin, describing what crew members were facing, wrote on X that sailors dealt with "mouldy showers, broken toilets, laundry down for weeks, long stretches with no hot water, a meal that came down to half a cup of rice and two tortillas. No soap, deodorant, or toothpaste."
Photo Credit: Mike Levin/ Facebook
Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth had earlier dismissed similar reports as "more fake news." Levin hit back, saying, "These men and women signed up to serve their country. The least their country owes them is hot water, a working toilet, and a real meal. Hegseth cannot even manage that, and he has the nerve to look their families in the eye and call them liars."
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