9 US Sailors From Same Ship Die Of Suicide Within 9 Months

Close to a dozen sailors assigned to a single Navy ship have died of suicide in the last year, according to reports.

Nine crew members of the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS George Washington have died of suicide in the span of nine months, Military.com reported, citing three sailors who wished to remain anonymous

The most recent confirmed suicides were that of Retail Services Specialist 3rd Class Mikail Sharp and Interior Communications Electrician 3rd Class Natasha Huffman.

Sharp was found dead at an off-base location in Hampton, Virginia, on April 9, while Huffman was discovered at a separate location in the city the next day.

Both sailors had been assigned to the George Washington straight out of their respective training schools and boot camps, records provided by the Navy showed.

An unidentified member of the ship's security team was also "found unresponsive on board the ship" on April 15 with a self-inflicted wound, according to the report, but it was unclear if the Navy ruled their death a suicide.

The Navy is "aware of four separate incidents that tragically resulted in the death of four service members assigned to the George Washington that occurred at off-base locations over the past 12 months," Lieutenant Commander Robert Myers, a spokesman for the commander of Naval Air Force Atlantic, said.

Local officials "investigated these unfortunate events as to confirm the cause of death," Myers said, but he did not confirm if the deaths were ruled as suicides.

The nuclear-powered George Washington has been refueling and undergoing an overhaul at Newport News, Virginia, since 2017. This kind of maintenance, which typically lasts four years, is usually done halfway through a carrier's 50-year life to refuel the nuclear reactor as well as to see to repair and upgrades.

While the George Washington was initially scheduled to be done in 2021, the date was later pushed back to this year.

"COVID-19 impacts and unplanned growth work resulted in delays to the schedule," Danny Hernandez, a spokesman for Newport News Shipbuilding, was quoted as saying.

The delays have allegedly resulted in sailors laboring under "unpleasant" and "taxing" conditions.

Crew members who do not have a housing allowance or otherwise live off the ship had to move back aboard last year despite the fact that the carrier is still being worked on, sailors claimed.

"They live in a construction zone," one said.

"There's grinding, needle gunning, there [are] always problems with ventilation, there [are] always problems with hot water," they explained.

The lack of ventilation during the winter months meant that the ship's epoxy-covered floor would crackle underfoot due to the cold, two sailors recalled.

All three crew members also noted the "disorganized" and "haphazard" parking situation, which resulted in sailors who lived minutes from the shipyard having to leave hours in advance of the workday just to get to work, according to the report.

The ship's leaders "obviously give a s--t more about their parking spaces than they do the actual people here," one sailor concluded after taking into consideration the level of attention that leadership gave to the parking assignments.

The deaths of the George Washington crew members are under investigation, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said in a briefing Tuesday.

"While these incidents remain under investigation, there is no initial indication to suggest there is a correlation between these tragic events," Myers said in an earlier statement.

Chaplains, psychologists, counselors and leadership "are engaged with the crew" of the ship and "are providing the appropriate support and counseling to those grieving the unexpected loss of our shipmates," according to the Navy.

If you have thoughts of suicide, confidential help is available for free at the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. Call 1-800-273-8255. The line is available 24 hours, every day.