Navy officer to be relieved of command

NORFOLK, Va. (AP) — A high-ranking Navy officer who produced and showed raunchy videos to the crew of an aircraft carrier three or four years ago is expected to be relieved of his command of the ship, defense officials said today.

A senior defense official said the announcement on Capt. Owen Honors of the USS Enterprise was expected this afternoon. The officials said the Navy has chosen a commander to replace Honors on the nuclear-powered ship that is currently stationed in Norfolk and scheduled to deploy to the Middle East this month.

The officials revealed the plans for Honors only on the grounds of anonymity because no official announcement has yet been made.

No phone listing was immediately available for Honors and he did not respond to e-mails.

The offending video shown in 2007 became public this weekend, proving an embarrassment to the Pentagon.

The videos released by a newspaper in this Navy port city feature Honors using gay slurs, pantomiming masturbation and staging suggestive shower scenes. They were played on the shipwide television system during weekly movie night when Honors was executive officer, or second in command, of the Enterprise. Honors has since become commander of the ship.