Eight USS Lincoln sailors attempted suicide during Iran war deployment Trump and Hegseth had dismissed as 'fake news'
From the Newshound archive · first published 24 September 2026.
The USS Abraham Lincoln docked in Thailand after a record Iran deployment during which eight sailors attempted suicide, the acting Navy secretary has confirmed in a letter to Senator Kirsten Gillibrand.US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth speaks at a D-Day ceremony. Iranian president Masoud Pezeshkian told the UN General Assembly his country is ready for dialogue "but without the language of force," as peace talks remain…
Acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao has confirmed in a letter to Senator Kirsten Gillibrand that eight personnel aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln strike group tried to kill themselves during a record nine-month deployment aimed at countering Iran. The Lincoln spent 286 consecutive days at sea without docking — a modern Navy record — after its planned return was pushed back from May, despite urgent appeals from the sailors' families.
Senator Gillibrand said the conditions that Trump and Pete Hegseth had dismissed as 'fake news' were 'serious and deteriorating.'
A defence official confirmed that two of the eight attempts occurred while the strike group was actively engaged in combat operations.
A US military official described eight attempts as 'incredibly high,' noting that a typical strike group deployment produces just one or two a year.
