Navy to Investigate Carrier Captain's Lewd Videos

WASHINGTON, Jan. 2, 2011— -- The Navy is investigating a series of raunchy videos featuring a top officer aboard the USS Enterprise aircraft carrier that were reportedly filled with profanity and mocking references to homosexuality.

In the videos, which were produced in 2006 and 2007 and excerpts of which were first obtained and reported by the Norfolk, Va., newspaper The Virginian-Pilot, the ship's then-No. 2 officer Capt. Owen Honors is seen using gay slurs and mimicking masturbation as he introduces a number of comedic sketches that were broadcast to the ship's nearly 6,000-member crew.

A spokesman for U.S. Fleet Forces Command, Commander Chris Sims, confirmed the videos' authenticity and said they were "inappropriate."

"Production of videos, like the ones produced four to five years ago on USS Enterprise and now being written about in The Virginian-Pilot, were not acceptable then and are not acceptable in today's Navy," Sims said in a statement.

In one video, Honors introduces a scene in which two female sailors pretend to wash each other in the shower by saying that "chicks in the shower" was his "favorite topic."

In another scene, male sailors dressed in drag mimic masturbation and in another, sailors simulate a rectal exam.

The videos were produced when the Enterprise was deployed in support of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Last May, Honors was named the Enterprise's captain, a prestigious position as the Navy only has 11 aircraft carriers.

According to Sims, when the leader of the Enterprise Strike Group at the time, Adm. Daniel Holloway, learned of the videos he ordered that they be stopped. Sims said the Navy's investigation is still trying to determine whether Honors faced any reprimand at the time.

It is unclear, however, if the Navy leadership at the Pentagon was aware of the videos before it promoted Honors to command the Enterprise last year. The investigation was launched only yesterday after the newspaper reports surfaced.