Concern is growing over living conditions aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln, a US aircraft carrier that has been deployed in the Middle East for more than 250 days, prompting a senator to demand answers from the military and adding pressure on the Trump administration.
Reports indicate that sailors aboard the vessel are experiencing food shortages, broken plumbing, and deteriorating mental health. There have also been reports of suicide attempts.
Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth on Thursday called the reports "completely misrepresented."
The carrier departed San Diego in November, initially heading to the South China Sea before being redirected to the Middle East ahead of US strikes on Iran in February. No return date has been publicly announced.
Connecticut Senator Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat, outlined the reported hardships in a letter to Hegseth. Approximately 5,000 personnel are aboard the vessel.
"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," Blumenthal wrote.
"These reports warrant immediate attention," he added, "but they also raise a broader question: whether the Navy can sustain the operational tempo now being demanded of its carrier force."
The Military Times and Stars and Stripes reported on Tuesday that multiple sailors had considered suicide or attempted to jump overboard, according to their family members.
Sources reported that last month a sailor went overboard and was recovered safely, citing two unnamed officials. The circumstances are currently under investigation.
The deployment was originally scheduled to end in May but has been repeatedly extended, with no date publicly announced for the carrier's return.
Hegseth, speaking to reporters in Panama on Thursday, said the government ensures "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."
On Thursday, the sources reported that the US is preparing to replace the Lincoln with the aircraft carrier USS George Washington as part of a previously scheduled rotation plan.
