‘Hope I Don’t Wake Up’: US Sailors Tried To Jump Overboard Amid Prolonged Iran War Deployment

Multiple sailors aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln reportedly tried to jump overboard as the aircraft carrier’s record-breaking deployment and worsening conditions take a toll on its crew. The reports, published by the Navy Times and Stars and Stripes, raised fresh concerns about the mental health of the roughly 5,000 sailors and Marines aboard the carrier, which has now spent nine months at sea amid the US war with Iran.

The Lincoln has gone about 250 consecutive days without making land- a record for a US aircraft carrier in modern times. At an emotional town hall meeting in San Diego last Thursday, around 200 family members confronted Navy leaders over the strain their loved ones are facing aboard the ship. Acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao and other

senior Navy officials attended the meeting.

One Navy spouse told officials that her husband had texted her that day saying he hoped he would not wake up the next morning. Navy Times reported that at least several sailors had attempted to go overboard during the current deployment.

Annabelle Loma, whose husband is serving aboard the Lincoln, told the publication that he had tried to jump overboard after his time at sea was repeatedly extended.

“He’s scared. He thinks he’ll get a dishonorable discharge, and just because he was burnt out his 13-year career is ruined, just like that,” she said.

In another reported incident, the wife of a sailor said her husband had stopped a fellow crew member from jumping overboard, grabbing the sailor and bringing them back onto the deck.

The reports prompted criticism from members of Congress, with California Democrat Mike Levin warning about the conditions aboard the carrier. Levin described reports of moldy showers, broken toilets, laundry being unavailable for weeks, long periods without hot water and shortages of basic hygiene products. He also said sailors had at one point received a meal consisting of half a cup of rice and two tortillas.

Colorado Democrat Jason Crow, a former Army Ranger who served in Afghanistan and Iraq, has also warned that the pressure on Lincoln sailors and their families is “building week by week”.

The carrier left San Diego on November 21 and was initially intended for deployment in the Pacific. It was redirected to the Middle East after the US-Israel war with Iran began. The deployment was originally scheduled to end in May but was extended amid the continuing conflict. According to reports, the crew has had only two days on land during the deployment- in Guam in December and Oman in July.

Concerns about conditions aboard the Lincoln had surfaced earlier this year, with reports of poor-quality and rationed food, water shortages, moldy showers and broken laundry machines. US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth previously dismissed such accounts as “more fake news”.

The US Navy has disputed the suggestion that there has been an increase in suicides or suicide attempts aboard the carrier.