Eight U.S. Navy sailors attempted suicide during USS Abraham Lincoln's extended Middle East deployment

Eight U.S. Navy sailors attempted suicide during the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group’s extended deployment to the Middle East, according to a letter by a top Pentagon official obtained by CNN.

In the written response, sent Tuesday to Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., following congressional inquiries into shipboard mental health, Acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao detailed that the figures covered the entire strike group — including the aircraft carrier, its air wing, escorting destroyers and support staff.

Cao said that no sailors died by suicide during the rotation, which featured active combat operations against Iran.

Political leadership previously downplayed reports of deteriorating conditions on the ship.

“What Trump and Secretary Hegseth dismissed as ‘fake news’ turned out to be serious and deteriorating conditions for our service members,” Gillibrand said in a statement Wednesday.

A defense official confirmed to CBS News that two of the attempts occurred while the strike group was actively engaged in combat.

The deployment lasted more than nine months and included over 250 consecutive days at sea without port visits, setting a modern Navy record. Beyond combat pressures, crew members experienced basic quality-of-life issues on board. Sailors reported frequent plumbing failures that shut down toilets and hot water, as well as food and supply shortages.

“Eight attempted suicides is incredibly high,” a U.S. military official told CNN, adding that typical strike group deployments see one or two attempts per year. “The strain of combat ops is much higher than normal deployments. No port calls, constant alerts, etc.”

The strike group’s rate of suicide attempts aligned with the broader active-duty Navy’s 2024 statistics, which recorded 356 attempts across roughly 337,000 active-duty sailors.

The letter also outlined specific overboard incidents. In August, a sailor assigned to the air wing went overboard, was “quickly recovered” and received medical care. In March, shipmates stopped another sailor from going overboard, and that sailor was treated and sent back to home port.

Cao noted that mental health personnel deployed with the strike group included five chaplains, a psychologist, a clinical social worker, an integrated prevention counselor, three behavioral health technicians and a facility dog.

In a prior statement to CNN, the Navy defended its onboard support systems.

“We have not observed an increase in suicidal ideations or attempts aboard the ship,” the statement read. “We take every service member’s well-being seriously and have religious, medical and mental health professionals available to assess and address concerns as they arise.”

A U.S. official also told the publication that the Navy did not link deployment length to self-harm and that man-overboard situations happened across the fleet.

Sailors on board described a different environment, citing widespread low morale and anxiety over their return date.

“Everyday we wake up and listen to our captain speak, we are desperately hoping and anxious for updates on our return,” one crew member told the outlet before the ship departed the Middle East.

Asked for comment on the letter, the Navy pointed to a video Cao posted on X, in which he said, “We must confront the rising tide of suicide head-on.”