Eight US Navy Sailors Attempted Suicide During USS Abraham Lincoln Iran Deployment

Eight US Navy personnel assigned to the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group attempted suicide during its deployment, which included combat operations against Iran and more than six months at sea, according to Acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao. The figure was disclosed in written responses to Senator Kirsten Gillibrand regarding personnel morale and mental health. No deaths by suicide occurred during the deployment.

Approximately 6,000 to 7,000 sailors were deployed across roughly six ships in the strike group. The Navy provided mental health support including five chaplains, a psychologist, a clinical social worker, and behavioural health technicians. Cao also reported incidents of sailors going overboard—one was recovered in August, another attempted to go overboard in March but was stopped by crew members, and two others were rescued in separate incidents.