US congressional Democrats on Wednesday demanded answers about conditions aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln, following reports of food shortages, broken plumbing and mental health crises during the aircraft carrier’s record-setting deployment. In a letter to US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, US Senator Richard Blumenthal called for the US Navy to account for conditions aboard the aircraft carrier, which “has been deployed more than 250 days” without coming ashore “in over 200 days, setting a record for consecutive days at sea.” Blumenthal voiced concern for such extended deployments, citing “widespread reports of shortages of basic supplies, water contamination, plumbing issues, deteriorating mental health, deck safety concerns” and other problems aboard the Lincoln.
An F/A-18E Super Hornet launches from the flight deck of the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln on July 31.
US Senator Ruben Gallego called for “an official oversight visit with the bipartisan Senate Delegation to the USS Lincoln to investigate the reported alarming conditions,” in a post on X. The USS Abraham Lincoln departed San Diego, California, on Nov. 21 last year for duty in the South China Sea and was rerouted to the Middle East before US-Israeli attacks on Iran that began Feb. 28.
