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- US Navy Crisis: USS Abraham Lincoln Crew Faces Food Shortage & Mental Health
US aircraft carrier Washington heads to relieve USS Lincoln:Food shortages, mental health concerns hit crew; sailors reportedly attempt to jump overboard
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A US aircraft carrier is on its way to West Asia to relieve the USS Abraham Lincoln, whose crew has reportedly endured food shortages and gruelling conditions
The USS Abraham Lincoln has been at sea for nearly nine months. During the Iran war, the warship has been operating continuously for more than 250 days without a single port stop. Approximately 5,000 US Marines are deployed aboard
The USS George Washington, which was near Malaysia on Thursday, is expected to reach the region within roughly nine days, according to a BBC report
According to a report by BBC, tracking data shows the carrier left a naval facility in Yokosuka, Japan, in May to patrol the Pacific and is now en route to take over from the Lincoln the BBC’s US partner, which cited a US official
At its last recorded speed, the vessel is projected to reach Duqm port in Oman, around 500 miles off the coast of Iran, by approximately 22 August
Once it arrives, the George Washington will become the third US aircraft carrier stationed in the Middle East, joining the USS George HW Bush, already deployed there. Its departure will leave no US carrier in the Pacific
President Donald Trump confirmed on Friday that another ship would replace the Lincoln, though he declined to name it
Concerns over sailors’ welfare
The Lincoln has been at sea since 11 December, on a deployment originally scheduled to conclude in May. Family members of sailors aboard have voiced growing alarm over deteriorating mental health among the crew, with some reportedly having attempted to jump overboard
Reports from the Military Times and Stars & Stripes earlier this week cited multiple families describing loved ones who had considered jumping from the vessel. Conditions on board have reportedly included poor sanitation, infrequent port calls, broken plumbing, exhaustion and shortages of fresh food
The US Navy has acknowledged supply difficulties but denied that a mental health crisis is under way aboard the carrier, which has some 5,000 personnel on board
Trump dismisses concerns over deployment
President Trump rejected suggestions that relatives of the sailors were worried about their welfare and dismissed the idea that the deployment had run on too long. Asked by reporters on Friday, he said it had “not nearly” been long enough
Lawmakers call for immediate action
Democratic lawmakers have raised concerns over conditions on the Lincoln. In a letter sent on Wednesday to Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth and Secretary of the Navy Hung Cao, Connecticut Senator Richard Blumenthal said reports of shortages and poor conditions “warrant immediate attention”
He added that the situation raised a wider question over whether the Navy can sustain the operational tempo now being demanded of its carrier fleet
Hegseth has pushed back on the coverage, telling reporters on Thursday that some media reports had been “completely misrepresented”. He said the Pentagon was working to ensure “every ship, every crew, every captain” had everything that could be provided to them
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