The US acting Navy secretary confirmed that eight sailors tried suicide while deployed with the USS Abraham Lincoln during its recent deployment.
The carrier spent a record-setting uninterrupted time at sea and drew international attention following reports of crew stress and poor mental health.
Acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao provided the information to US Senator Kirsten Gillibrand in a letter dated Tuesday, local time, after the New York Democrat asked last month about the strike group's crew.
The Lincoln's extended deployment drew international attention following reports of crew stress and poor mental health, as well as supply shortages, including food and hygiene products.
Eight attempts in a strike group of 6,000 sailors over 10 months is low, experts say. The Navy reported 356 suicide attempts across the service in 2024, while there were more than 1,500 attempts among all active-duty personnel that year, according to the latest annual report.
Doctor Harold Kudler, a former national lead for mental health services at the Department of Veterans Affairs and a retired VA psychiatrist, said the reported attempts were not the best measure for conditions on the Lincoln and its supporting destroyers, with no more details.
"There have been no suicides on board during this deployment," Mr Cao wrote in the letter, which was got by The Associated Press and reported earlier by CNN.
US President Donald Trump had described reports about conditions on the Lincoln arrived in the Middle East in January in support of operations against Iran, and spent a record-setting uninterrupted time at sea of more than 260 days.