A serving sailor on board the USS Abraham Lincoln has allegedly lost 17 pounds at sea, according to family accounts relayed to Newsweek, as a second wave of photographs depicting sparse meal trays on deployed US Navy warships surfaces despite Pentagon denials of any food shortages.

The new images werepublished by Newsweek on 24 April 2026, one week after USA Today broke the initial story, and show food trays carrying what appear to be a single meat patty, a small portion of shredded meat, and sparse side items. They were passed to retired US Air Force veteran and military welfare advocate Gerald D. Givens Jr. by the family of a serving officer aboard the ship.

The first set of photographs was published byUSA Today on 16 April 2026, sourced from two service members who shared images with their parents. One, a female Marine aboard the USS Tripoli, sent a photo of a lunch tray that was two-thirds empty, carrying one small scoop of shredded meat and a single folded tortilla.

The other, a male sailor aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln, sent an image showing a handful of boiled carrots, what appeared to be a dry hamburger patty, and what USA Today described as 'a gray slab of processed meat.'

The sailor on the Tripoli told her father, identified only as Dan F. in USA Today's reporting, that fresh produce was no longer available and that crew members had begun rationing and splitting portions among themselves. 'We have the strongest military in the world,' he said. 'You shouldn't be running out of food. The one thing we had over our adversaries was we fed our people.'

The second round of photographs arrived via Givens, the founder and CEO ofRaleigh Boots On The Ground, a North Carolina nonprofit serving military families, who received them from a friend whose son is currently deployed on the Lincoln. 'My immediate reaction was shock,' Givens told Newsweek.

'Food service and mail are essential to combat support. Both directly impact morale.' His friend reported that her son had lost 17 pounds, and that a care package dispatched in December had still not arrived by the time of publication.

Department of Defense records shed light on the timeline. According toDVIDS, the Pentagon's official image service, the USS Abraham Lincoln was last resupplied at sea on 18 March 2026. The photographs of sparse meals began circulating publicly around 16 April, meaning more than five weeks had elapsed since the last confirmed resupply.

The Navy can restock ships via vessel-to-vessel transfer or by helicopter, though US Central Command declined to answer questions from Stars and Stripes about whether any scheduled replenishments had been postponed or delayed.

The USS Tripoli has a separate timeline.US Central Command confirmedon social media that the vessel arrived in the Middle East on 27 March 2026. There are approximately 3,500 sailors and Marines aboard the Tripoli and its two accompanying warships. Snopes, which investigated the original photographs, noted it was unclear when the Tripoli had last been resupplied.

Source: International Business Times UK