Sharon Zhang
Truthout / August 13, 2026
Multiple sailors have reportedly tried to jump overboard as Trump’s war on Iran has kept them at sea for months.
A sailor reportedly had to be rescued after going overboard off of the USS Abraham Lincoln last month amid an apparent ongoing mental health crisis brought on by the lengthy, Iran war-related deployment for the aircraft carrier.
The Navy Times and Stars and Stripes reported this week that at least three sailors have tried to jump overboard the ship recently, but were stopped. Sailors have contacted their families with pleas for help, reporting higher rates of suicidal ideation; one person said that her husband told her he “hopes he doesn’t wake up tomorrow,” and another says she has barely heard from her husband since he tried to jump overboard and is now in medical hold.
“Our mental health and physical health is in danger,” one sailor reportedly recently wrote to family. “We need help.”
On Thursday, CNN revealed that one sailor did indeed go overboard last month. The circumstances surrounding the incident are unclear, and the soldier has reportedly been medically evaluated.
The toll on the sailors highlights the costs to the U.S. in the futile war, which had reportedly cost nearly $100 billion as of last month, and which has cost American households billions of dollars in higher gas, grocery, and housing prices thus far. The costs to Iran’s civilian population have been dire as U.S.-Israeli strikes slaughter civilians and destroy civilian infrastructure.
Last week, 200 family members of sailors onboard angrily confronted Acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao about what they perceive as a mental health crisis. The carrier has been deployed for over 250 days and at one point broke the record for the longest time at sea without a port call, spending 208 straight days at sea.
The carrier and its roughly 5,000 sailors were supposed to return months ago, but were deployed to support the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran. At the beginning of the war, President Donald Trump said it would only last four to five weeks, and that it “won’t be difficult.” But the war has stretched into its sixth month with no end in sight; negotiations have reached a stalemate and the U.S. continues to launch strikes that it has assessed are futile, terrorizing civilians in Iran.
“Sadly I’m not surprised. We have a president, a Commander-in-Chief, who’s made fun of troops for mental health issues. We have a secretary of defense who’s more focused on testosterone tests than actually keeping our troops alive,” said Rep. Seth Moulton (D-Massachusetts), chair of the House Armed Services Committee, to CNN. “It’s really hard to be excited about that mission (the war with Iran). There’s no one who believes in it right now.”
The lack of a clear goal or end date for the war adds to the pile of morale issues the sailors are facing on board. The ship had already faced food shortages as of April, USA Today reported at the time; one soldier sent a picture of an unappetizing-looking meal they were served that consisted of a half cup of steamed carrots and two small, mysterious pieces of what appeared to be meat.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Connecticut) wrote in a letter raising alarm over the conditions to Cao and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth this week that there have been reports of “shortages of basic supplies, water contamination, plumbing issues, deteriorating mental health, deck safety concerns, and disruptions in the mail system.” Military families told MSNOW last week that service members are dealing with malfunctioning toilets and mouldy showers.
On Thursday, Hegseth denied the reports amid a trip to Panama, saying that the mental health situation is “completely misrepresented” and that Pentagon officials “make sure every ship, every crew, every captain has everything we can provide them at every single moment.”
Meanwhile, the war is spurring even more widespread issues at sea. Researchers have warned that the stranded fleet of commercial ships around the Strait of Hormuz may create a marine “super-spreader event” of invasive species, as the idling ships create an ideal location for marine species to grow on. Those species will then hitch a ride all over the world when the ships eventually pass through.
Sharon Zhang is a news writer at Truthout covering international affairs, politics, and labour
