— CNN reporter who spent three days on the USS Abraham Lincoln described conditions as a combination of hardship and remarkable resilience following months of combat operations against Iran.

Sailors said Iran’s early-war attacks disrupted supply routes through Bahrain, leading to months of limited fresh food and periods in which meals were reduced to options such as tuna with noodles or corn dogs, and some crew reported significant weight loss. Sources had improved by July, although sailors still faced long lines for food, old plumbing, and reports of mold and backed-up toilets in the rear restrooms.

However, the biggest pressure was seemingly endless deployment. Sailors described 12- to 16-hour workdays, limited privacy, and uncertainty about when they would be able to return home, and one of them said the mission had shifted from “helping Iranian protesters” to “nuclear disarmament,” and then to maintaining a blockade.

Concerns about mental health also emerged. After the reporter departed, a sailor wearing a life jacket jumped into the water from the sea, and was later rescued by helicopter.

The reporter also reviewed messages from another sailor who had received suicide counseling after saying that he wanted to commit suicide.

With the USS George Washington now moving to relieve the Lincoln, sailors have an increasingly cautious sense of optimism about their eventual return home.