this post was submitted on 12 Aug 2026
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[–] Puddinghelmet@lemmy.world 3 points 19 hours ago
[–] Zephyr@sh.itjust.works 5 points 1 day ago (4 children)

That happens on every deployment. There's at least a few jumpers and a few suicides. One dude on one of my deployments killed himself by drinking liquid oxygen.

[–] TipRing@lemmy.world 1 points 2 hours ago

That sounds like an unpleasant way to go, poor fella.

[–] Puddinghelmet@lemmy.world 8 points 19 hours ago* (last edited 19 hours ago) (2 children)

The ship has not docked for more than 200 days. According to Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal, that is a record in recent history for the number of consecutive days at sea.

In recent weeks, family members of the crew have told U.S. media about exhaustion on board, food shortages, and poor sanitary conditions. Earlier this month, a sailor reportedly even jumped overboard. CNN (opens in a new window) reports, citing anonymous sources within the U.S. government, that the crew member was subsequently rescued from the water.

The news outlet also reports that the U.S. Navy is dismissing the incident as a “mental health-related episode.” The crew member has been brought ashore for further care. Other crew members are also said to have attempted to jump overboard.

There were already complaints about the food last April. Defense Minister Pete Hegseth dismissed the photos that surfaced as fake news.
Source: Twitter/X

Last week, during a meeting with Navy leadership, family members asked questions about the sailor who had jumped overboard. They were told that he was doing "just fine," according to a reporter from the news channel MS Now. "Those present reacted with outrage."

Following all the commotion, the Navy issued a statement today: "We have not observed an increase in suicidal thoughts or attempts on board. We take the well-being of service members seriously and have chaplains, medical personnel, and mental health specialists available to assess and address any concerns."

Hegseth then reiterated today that reports of poor conditions were “completely exaggerated.” Nevertheless, the Navy announced this evening that the USS George Washington is en route to the Middle East, reportedly to relieve the Lincoln.

The straight out lying tho

[–] SaveTheTuaHawk@lemmy.ca 1 points 11 hours ago

they could heat up that food with steam.

Mashed raccoon peen with carrots? What are these guys complaining about?

[–] Zephyr@sh.itjust.works 1 points 15 hours ago (1 children)

200 would suck so bad. As for the food, that's a normal thing also up to a certain frequency. Anyone wise enough keeps storage for a rainy day. Peoples circumnavigate or do 12 month deployments, but 200 consecutive days without a port is nasty. Idk how to explain, time stops existing on the ship. It could be a week, a month, a day, somehow it all feels the same.

[–] Puddinghelmet@lemmy.world 1 points 12 hours ago* (last edited 12 hours ago)

Interesting ty!! and bit sad, that last part reminds me a bit of that series "1899" which features a mysterious ship where time and reality become distorted, leading to unsettling experiences for the passengers.

[–] yakko@feddit.uk 2 points 23 hours ago

Holy shit ಠಿ⁠_⁠ಠಿ

[–] modus@lemmy.world 3 points 1 day ago (1 children)

That sounds like a horrible way to go.

[–] motruck@lemmy.zip 1 points 1 day ago

Does it freeze and kill your sensation at the same time like cold branding? If so, diabolical.

[–] Chessmasterrex@lemmy.world 33 points 1 day ago (2 children)

The lack of sleep was the worst part of the long extended deployment period that I was on. Our work center had like three people doing rotating shifts standing watch, keeping equipment running. I’d be up all night and in the morning we couldn’t go to bed until after quarters and the XOs inspection of berthing, which was like 11am. But then it was lunchtime and after that we couldn’t sleep because of GQ drills in the afternoon. Basically when all that was done and over I had to go back on watch. There would be times I’d be awake for several days straight. When the stars aligned perfectly and I could get 8 hours straight, oh man it was the best sleep I ever had.

[–] Olhonestjim@lemmy.world 27 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

Yeah, I barely have memories from that time I was so sleep deprived.

"You're gonna reenlist, right? You're a great sailor! Civilian life sucks, you just don't even know."

"I was a civilian for a decade before I signed up. I know what's it's like. You don't. No, I got the GI Bill now. I'm going to Colorado, to hike deep into the mountains without telling anyone where I'm going, and smoke myself into a coma."

And I did.

[–] Kazumara@discuss.tchncs.de 4 points 1 day ago

Was it a restful coma?

[–] SirEDCaLot@lemmy.today 14 points 1 day ago (2 children)

I’d be up all night and in the morning we couldn’t go to bed until after quarters and the XOs inspection of berthing, which was like 11am.

Seems like a command staff seriously out to lunch. A good commander would recognize that letting your people get sleep they need is more important than making sure every bed is made correctly.

[–] RumRunningDevil@lemmy.zip 8 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Yeah that's... Not how the Navy does things.

Sleep deprivation is the norm across the Navy, particularly in the engineering community and particularly in nuclear engineering.

I would commonly go 36 hours without sleep, generally a few times a month. People keep this up for decades.

[–] Jumi@lemmy.world 7 points 1 day ago

That can only lead to excellent results and will never result in any mistakes whatsoever, I'm absolutely sure.

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[–] radiofreebc@lemmy.world 61 points 2 days ago (5 children)

I worked on an empty, out of service cruise ship during COVID and was stuck onboard for 195 days at sea. There were only 95 other crew members onboard...and only 3 women. I was the only native English speaking crew member. I'm still fucked up from the isolation.

[–] fyzzlefry@retrolemmy.com 18 points 2 days ago (5 children)

Dude i give you permission to DM me if that happens again. We'll get dnd going or something.

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[–] postmateDumbass@lemmy.world 3 points 1 day ago

IMO the USS Abraham Lincon is being used as a symbol of Trump's hate for how the Civil War ended.

He is treating those sailors like slaves as a sick joke.

And hoping someone attacks it so he can retaliate. Israel will probably do it eventually when they come up with a cover story.

[–] wheezy@lemmy.ml 53 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (4 children)

Good. Not for the soldiers. I'm not trying to be an edgy leftist. But, this war will not end until Americans feel some personal loss or material impact to demand it end. So I'm not saying "good" to soldiers losing their minds. I'm saying it's good that Americans read about their soldiers losing their minds.

That war ends either through its ruling class being impacted by a stock market crash; or the working class being impacted by its death and material consequences and demanding change in meaningful ways.

I wish it wasn't the case. But there is a reason that they stopped showing flag draped coffins coming home during the Iraq war. They want you to forget about it and accept the gas prices as the new normal and the only impact on your life.

They know Americans won't do anything for another "dead Gaza baby". But they know even the most right wing Trump supporter can only handle so many dead troops.

Unfortunately, things will have to get much worse for Americans to demand an end to this war in any meaningful numbers. Or it's ruling class can no longer milk profits from it and pull out leaving the mess they made behind. The later, unfortunately, being what will actually end it.

[–] wonderingwanderer@sopuli.xyz 5 points 1 day ago

Except that most americans don't really care about the troops. The troops are just a prop to be used for political pandering and virtue signaling.

To the government, the troops are just property. They only take care of them for the same reasons you change the oil in your car. To preserve and maintain your property, keep it running in good condition so you can use it when you need to.

Right now, this current administration is like someone who never changes his oil, and then complains about the car and calls it a piece of shit when it starts having issues.

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[–] WraithGear@lemmy.world 8 points 1 day ago

ah so nothing has changed.

[–] M0oP0o@mander.xyz 21 points 2 days ago

Well if anyone wants to know how to have a shit navy and spend more then everyone else, here you are.

[–] SecretSauces@lemmy.world 36 points 2 days ago (3 children)

I remember when I served and thought 9-month deployments were too long. That included port visits.

9 months out without ever seeing land is cruel and unusual punishment. Especially in the heat of the Gulf.

[–] fake@sh.itjust.works 17 points 2 days ago

Last port call was Guam, which it left 12th December 2025. So now up to 244+ days at sea, absolutely insane and inhumane. Previous longest was like 206ish. Could be another couple of months yet as Roosevelt hasn't even sailed to relieve it. Could hit 300+ days at sea yet.

[–] Not_mikey@lemmy.dbzer0.com 17 points 2 days ago (1 children)

without ever seeing land

Do you even see much daylight? I figured, especially on the bigger aircraft carriers, that you spend almost all your time below deck.

[–] M0oP0o@mander.xyz 13 points 2 days ago (4 children)

Eh, you can get to areas "outside" without much issue, not all the outside areas are the flight deck.

That being said, these people are crammed in there doing work on a non normal rotation 24/7. It can not help that they are not doing anything worthwhile and also nothing really effective.

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[–] UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world 4 points 1 day ago
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