Thousands of US military members who have lived aboard an aircraft carrier for more than 250 days are reportedly contending with food shortages, broken plumbing and exhaustion, leading lawmakers to demand answers from the Pentagon and pressuring the Trump administration over the Iran war.
Military news outlets reported that some USS Abraham Lincoln sailors have attempted to jump overboard, and families have raised concerns about mental health onboard the ship.
Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth on Thursday called reports of conditions “completely misrepresented”.
The carrier left California in November for the South China Sea and was sent to the Middle East ahead of attacks on Iran in February.
The deployment, which was originally set to end in May, has been repeatedly extended. No return date has been announced, but on Thursday multiple outlets reported the US is preparing to replace the carrier with the USS George Washington as part of a previously scheduled rotation plan.
Connecticut Senator Richard Blumenthal listed the reported hardships on the carrier, where about 5,000 people are on board, in a letter to Hegseth: “Shortages of basic supplies, water contamination, plumbing issues, deteriorating mental health, deck safety concerns, and disruptions in the mail system, which have caused many care packages in route to the ship to be lost in transit for months.”
“These reports warrant immediate attention,” the Democrat, who serves on the Armed Services Committee, wrote, “but they also raise a broader question: whether the Navy can sustain the operational tempo now being demanded of its carrier force.”
Fellow Democratic Senator Ruben Gallego called for the military to allow a congressional delegation to visit the ship and “conduct oversight investigation into this horrible situation,” he posted on X, adding: “There is no reason to be denied access.”
Citing two unnamed officials, CBS News, the BBC’s US partner, reported that earlier this month a sailor went overboard and was recovered by a helicopter, treated by the medical department, and transferred off the ship for further care.
The circumstances of the incident are under investigation.
The Military Times and Stars and Stripes reported earlier this week that multiple service members had considered jumping overboard, according to their families. They said that being at sea for an extended period of time and the conditions on board were hurting some members’ mental health.
Those conditions also reportedly included not being able to clean laundry for more than a week and not eating fresh food due to infrequent visits to ports, when troops are not always allowed to leave the ship.
The relative of one sailor aboard the ship told BBC News that their family member has lost 65lbs (29kg) since beginning their deployment.
The person, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to concerns about retaliation, said that their relative confirmed sailors had attempted to jump from the ship.
In recent WhatsApp conversations, “He said, ‘I’m dead tired. Dead.'”
The sailor described constant noise and vibration, from the ship’s engine and planes taking off and landing.
“He knows the mission, and he knows that this is not gonna be ideal situation,” the relative said.
“It’s not a vacation. And he knows what he has to do. But it’s just without a port, without stepping foot on lands, without any kind of decompression. It’s a constant vibration. Morning, noon, and night when you sleep, when you eat, when you shower. There’s never a moment of peace in your mind.”
California Congressman Mike Levin, a Democrat, summarised the issues on X as: “moldy 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.“
Following those reports, a Navy official told the BBC they had not identified an increase in reported suicidal ideation or suicide attempts aboard the ship and that “traditional supply hubs” had been “disrupted by combat actions”.
The Navy was currently putting a priority on delivering “mission-critical supplies” to the ship.
“First food, then hygiene items, then mail,” the official said on Wednesday. “Current reports from the ship confirm continuous access to clean water, functional AC (air conditioning), and healthy meal options.”
Hegseth, while speaking to reporters in Panama on Thursday, said the government makes sure “every ship, every crew, every captain has everything we can provide them at every single moment”.
“Some deployments are longer than others, and I have more respect and gratitude for those sailors than anybody,” he said. “What they do in those high seas in those austere conditions with less port calls – it’s incredible.”
Asked about the conditions on board, Olivia Wales, a spokeswoman for Trump, told reporters that both Hegseth and Trump were committed to ensuring the US military was “equipped with the resources necessary to counter any threat to the United States”.
During other lengthy deployments, the Navy took steps to provide entertainment for troops, according to military publication Stars & Stripes, external, including bingo, art sessions, and a singing contest.
A study, external of 956 sailors released in January 2025 found that troops aboard US Navy ships suffer the highest rates of “serious psychological distress” in comparison to other branches of the US military.
The study cited “unique stressors, such as poor habitability, noise, and demanding schedules that leave inadequate time for sleep and rest”.
Meanwhile, suicide remains a leading cause of death in the US Navy and Marines, according to an analysis of military data by USNI News, and veterans have higher rates of suicide than Americans who have not served in the military, according to the Veterans Administration.
If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this story you can visit BBC Action Line. Help and support outside the UK can be found at Befrienders Worldwide, external or you can call the US Suicide and Crisis Lifeline on 988.
With reporting by Cai Pigliucci
