Navy captain's lewd videos revealed

A senior officer aboard the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Enterprise broadcast to his crew a series of profanity-laced comedy sketches in which he used gay slurs, mimicked masturbation and opened the shower curtain on women pretending to bathe together, according to reports.

Captain Owen Honors appeared in the videos in 2006 and 2007 while he was the second-ranking officer on the Enterprise and showed them across the ship on closed-circuit television, the Virginian-Pilot reported. He took over as the ship's commander in May last year.

The Navy said it planned to investigate the videos, which "were intended to be humorous skits focusing the crew's attention on specific issues such as port visits, traffic safety, water conservation, ship cleanliness, etcetera".

Commander Chris Sims said the videos "were not acceptable then and are not acceptable in today's Navy".

He said 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".

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