The USS Abraham Lincoln has been stuck at sea for over 250 days without a port stop, and morale has collapsed to the point where sailors are trying to jump overboard — grim news for the crew and for US military readiness.

• The carrier has gone 38 weeks without touching land, far past the normal 3-to-6-week rotation, with reports of food and supply shortages, moldy showers, and no basic toiletries.
• Six sailors have reportedly tried to go overboard; one spouse said her husband messaged that he "hopes he doesn't wake up tomorrow."
• The ship was supposed to head home in May but now has no announced return date, deepening the sense of limbo.
• It costs millions of dollars a day to run, yet it has pulled back out of Iranian missile range — undercutting the whole point of a carrier and leaving its exhausted crew questioning what the mission even is.
• Its main job now is missile defense for Israel, which is nearly out of its own interceptors and leaning on the US Navy to shoot down Iranian attacks.

Outlook: With no end date and negotiations with Iran stalled, the crew looks set to stay deployed and under strain, raising the risk of serious mistakes.