Democratic lawmakers are pressing the War Department for answers about conditions aboard the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln following reports that the strain of a prolonged deployment has taken a serious mental and physical toll on the roughly 5,000 sailors and Marines serving aboard the vessel.

A report by Navy Times on Tuesday said at least two sailors had to be stopped from going overboard. Other relatives who spoke with the publication described their loved ones as being in a deep emotional slump during the carrier’s extended deployment.

The Lincoln originally set out last November on a planned seven-month mission in the South China Sea. In January, however, the carrier was redirected to the Arabian Sea ahead of Operation Epic Fury against Iran, where it has remained ever since.

More than 200 family members reportedly met with acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao last week to discuss their concerns. One military spouse said her husband sent her a message saying that “he hopes he doesn’t wake up tomorrow,” according to an attendee who spoke with Stars and Stripes.

“When she can email me, she’s definitely down,” Shelby Sanders, whose mother is serving aboard the Lincoln, told Navy Times. “I think they’ve had five weeks of non-stop combat operations or something like that, so that makes it really tough to communicate consistently or even know if we’ll be able to. It sucks.”

Rep. Mike Levin (D-Calif.), whose district includes part of San Diego County, has also raised concerns about conditions aboard the carrier. In an Aug. 7 post on X, Levin said the Lincoln had “[m]oldy showers, broken toilets, no hot water for weeks, meals that came down to half a cup of rice and two tortillas,” along with a “ship’s store out of soap, deodorant, and toothpaste” and “sailors so worn down that, according to one family member, the ship’s own doctor warned they need to reach port soon or people are going to start losing their minds.”Levin escalated his criticism Wednesday, writing on X: “Today would be a great day for [President] Trump to fire [War Secretary] Pete Hegseth and replace him with someone who is actually competent,” he said. “Every American and every soldier deployed abroad would be safer for it.”

Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) separately warned Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Cao in a Wednesday letter that the Lincoln “has not made a port call in over 200 days, setting a record for consecutive days at sea.”

Blumenthal said the carrier had been the subject of “widespread reports of shortages of basic supplies, water contamination, plumbing issues, deteriorating mental health, deck safety concerns, and disruptions in the mail system, which have caused many care packages in route to the ship to be lost in transit for months,” adding that the Navy “must ensure that decisions to extend carrier deployments account not only for immediate operational requirements, but also for their cumulative effects on crew safety, equipment readiness, maintenance schedules, and the ability of the carrier force to meet future contingencies.”

The senator, who serves on the Senate Armed Services Committee, asked the Navy to provide its own assessment of conditions aboard the Lincoln, including the physical and mental readiness of enlisted personnel to carry out their duties. He also sought an explanation of whether keeping the carrier deployed remains necessary to support US military objectives against Iran.

The Navy disputed reports of a rise in suicidal behavior aboard the ship.

“We have not observed an increase in suicidal ideations or attempts aboard the ship,” the Navy told CNN in a statement Thursday. “We take every service member’s well-being seriously and have religious, medical and mental health professionals available to assess and address concerns as they arise.”

Blumenthal concluded his letter by arguing that the sailors and Marines aboard the carrier deserve greater support after such an extended deployment.

“The men and women aboard the Lincoln have answered the call to serve their country. The Department owes them not only adequate supplies, maintenance, and support during this deployment, but a sustainable force-generation model that does not rely on repeatedly extending sailors and ships to meet persistent operational demands,” Blumenthal concluded.

“Our servicemembers deserve nothing less than the full support of their government and the American people deserve a military strategy that is worthy of the sacrifices we ask them to make.”