CNN confirmed another report of three sailor went overboard to commit suicide on USS Abraham Lincoln
A sailor went overboard earlier this month off of the USS Abraham Lincoln, three US officials told CNN, amid reports of worsening mental health for crew members on the ship during an extended deployment for the Iran war.
The sailor was rescued within an hour, according to one of the officials, and was medically evaluated. A different official said that the sailor had gone overboard wearing a life vest and was not injured, adding that the Navy considered the incident a mental health episode.
The sailor had been assigned to an air wing on the ship, the third official said, and was recovered “by an air wing search and rescue helicopter, treated by Abraham Lincoln’s medical department, and transferred off ship for follow-on care.”
One of the officials described the seas as rough and specified that the incident had occurred on August 03. The incident of the sailor going overboard, which has not been previously reported, adds to a growing list of concerns about the crew on the ship.
Several Democratic lawmakers are calling for answers after concerns were raised by families of sailors aboard Lincoln about the deteriorating living conditions and worsening mental health during the ship’s record-breaking deployment.
Since the Lincoln left its home port of San Diego last November, the aircraft carrier has been deployed for more than 250 days after being redirected to the Middle East to support US operations in the war with Iran, now entering its sixth month. With more than 5,000 sailors and Marines aboard, it has not made a port call in more than 200 days, setting a modern-day record for consecutive days at sea, according to Sen. Richard Blumenthal.
The USS George Washington carrier group, which finished a port visit in Vietnam on August 5, is currently headed to the Middle East to replace the Lincoln, a separate US official told CNN. The official said that the swap had been previously planned. It was not immediately clear when the Washington would arrive.
News outlets Stars and Stripes and the Navy Times reported this week that there had been multiple attempts by crew members to jump overboard, citing interviews with sailors and families of those on board who described the impacts of the lengthy deployment.
On Wednesday, Blumenthal, a Democrat from Connecticut and a member of the Armed Services Committee, wrote to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and the Acting Secretary of the Navy to express “serious concern” about the increasing length of deployments and demand answers about living conditions aboard the carrier.
“There have been widespread reports of shortages of basic supplies, water contamination, plumbing issues, deteriorating mental health, deck safety concerns,” aboard the ship, he said in the letter, as well as “disruptions in the mail system, which have caused many care packages in route to the ship to be lost in transit for months.”
Read also: Reports of suicide attempts deepen families concerns over US Abraham Lincoln’s prolonged deployment
