Eight sailors assigned to USS Lincoln attempted suicide, Navy Secretary tells Congress

Navy Secretary Hung Cao told Congress that eight sailors from the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group attempted suicide during its record-breaking deployment, which included participation in the Iran war. The letter, obtained Wednesday, responded to Senator Kirsten Gillibrand's concerns about crew conditions. Cao noted mental health resources were aboard, and no service members died by suicide. The deployment saw no port calls and constant alerts, with one official calling the number of attempts "incredibly high."

Navy Secretary Hung Cao informed Congress that eight sailors assigned to the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group attempted suicide during its record-breaking deployment, which included participation in the Iran war. The letter, obtained by multiple US media outlets on Wednesday, responded to a letter from New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, who raised concerns about conditions aboard the aircraft carrier in August. Cao specified that the attempts were among the crew of the Lincoln itself, as well as sailors from its carrier air wing, strike group and destroyer squadron staff, escorting destroyers, and all embarked aviation squadrons — a total of between 6,000 and 7,000 service members. One US military official told CNN the number of attempted suicides was "incredibly high," noting that "the strain of combat ops is much higher than normal deployments. No port calls, constant alerts, etc." However, CNN reported that the rate of suicide attempts was roughly consistent with that of the entire active-duty Navy in 2024, the most recent year for which data is available. The letter emphasized that no service members had died by suicide during the deployment. Cao also stated that mental health resources were present on board, including five chaplains, one embedded integrated prevention counselor, one psychologist, one clinical social worker, three behavioral health technicians, and one expeditionary facility dog. Since Gillibrand's letter, reports have emerged of declining mental health and morale among the Lincoln's crew, which President Donald Trump, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and Central Command Commander Brad Cooper all denied. The Lincoln has since been replaced by the USS George Washington and is on its way home.