US Navy probes top officer on aircraft carrier ‘making lewd videos’

LONDON - The US Navy has launched an investigation after it emerged that a senior officer aboard a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier had made a series of raunchy videos and then shown them to his crew.

Capt Owen Honors, who took over as the commander of the USS Enterprise in May, allegedly produced films, which included swearing, gay slurs and images of naked women taking a shower.

According to the Virginian-Pilot, Honors appeared in the videos in 2006 and 2007 while he was the USS Enterprise’s second-ranking officer, and showed them across the ship on closed-circuit television.

The Navy said it planned to investigate the videos, which it called “clearly inappropriate”.

“The videos were intended to be humorous skits focusing the crew’s attention on specific issues such as port visits, traffic safety, water conservation, ship cleanliness, etc.,” the Daily Mail quoted the Navy as saying in a statement.

In a video obtained by the newspaper, Honors addresses the camera and introduces a series of lewd video clips, which he acknowledges have drawn complaints.

During the introduction, he also used a derogatory term for gays, and next came a sequence of what appear to be outtakes in which Honors and others curse.

He then continues to the next segment by saying: “Finally let’s get to my favourite topic … chicks in the shower.”

The film then shows clips of pairs of women and a pair of men pretending to shower together. No nudity is shown, but the men and women’s bare shoulders imply they are nude.

Cmdr Chris Sims said in a statement that the videos “were not acceptable then and are not acceptable in today’s Navy”.

“Commanding officers and enlisted chiefs are charged to lead by example and are held accountable for setting the proper tone and upholding the standards of honour, courage and commitment that we expect Sailors to exemplify,” Sims added in the statement. (ANI)