Navy captain loses command over lewd videos

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The captain of a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier was relieved of his command on Tuesday after producing bawdy videos that featured slurs against homosexuals, simulated masturbation and toilet humor.

The widely expected decision to remove Captain Owen Honors from the USS Enterprise was announced by Admiral John Harvey, commander of the Navy's Fleet Forces Command in Norfolk, Virginia.

"His profound lack of good judgment and professionalism while previously serving as executive officer on Enterprise calls into question his character and completely undermines his credibility to continue to serve effectively in command," Harvey said.

Honors produced, starred in and circulated the videos aboard ship three or four years ago, when he was second in command of the nuclear-powered carrier. He was later promoted to command the Enterprise.

It was not clear why the issue suddenly came to light years after the fact.

The videos, which include sexually suggestive scenes of women showering together and a mock anal exam, were broadcast over the ship's closed-circuit television system as movie night entertainment for the 5,800 crew members and aviators.

The videos first surfaced over the weekend in the Virginian-Pilot newspaper, which serves Norfolk where the carrier is based. It made excerpts available on its website pilotonline.com/.

Honors has made no public statement but supporters rose to his defense on Facebook, where they applauded his leadership and described the videos as morale boosters. Associates including former crew members have also defended him in TV interviews.

Some experts said the Navy video incident shows just how hard it will be to change attitudes in the military on another issue, the recent repeal of the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy on gays in the military.

"The fact that you have a person that has risen this high in the service and has done this will legitimize those people who are opposed to the change in the policy," said Lawrence J. Korb, a Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress and retired Navy captain.

But others viewed it as a lapse in judgment with no wider implications.

"By the time you become executive officer of one of the most powerful ships in the world, one would hope you had moved beyond playing with a masturbating sock puppet with your subordinates," said Peter Singer, Senior Fellow on Defense Policy at the Brookings Institution think-tank.

(Additional reporting by Phil Stewart and Wendell Marsh; Editing by Greg McCune)