The Navy found that three of the latest suicides among the crew of the USS George Washington aircraft carrier had no clear connection to living conditions on the massive docked ship, according to an investigation report released Monday.
The findings are the culmination of the first of two known investigations into a string of suicides around the carrier, which is undergoing a years-long maintenance overhaul in a Virginia shipyard that has caused a lack of basic amenities, such as hot water, and hour-long commutes for crew. The three deaths involved two sailors found in housing in the Norfolk area and a third found aboard the ship.
The deaths were the last in a murky history of suicide aboard the George Washington. Military.com initially reported that sailors were told the ship had experienced 10 suicides in under a year by its commander, Capt. Brent Gaut. Since then, the Navy has offered differing and lower figures, but it has never confirmed or denied what Gaut told his crew.
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The investigation released Monday focused on the suicides of Retail Services Specialist 3rd Class Mikail Sharp, who was found dead at an off-base location in Hampton, Virginia, on April 9; Interior Communications Electrician 3rd Class Natasha Huffman, who was found dead in her bedroom in Hampton on April 10; and Master-At-Arms Seaman Recruit Xavier…
