Thomas Modly

Acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly resigned on April 7, according to two officials, just hours after he had publicly apologized for a profanity-laced upbraiding of the officer he fired as captain of the coronavirus-stricken USS Theodore Roosevelt.

Acting U.S. Navy Secretary Thomas Modly issued an apology on April 6 to the former commander of a coronavirus-stricken aircraft carrier after sharply criticizing him in a speech to his crew, just days after firing him.

U.S. Navy Capt. Brett Crozier departed the USS Theodore Roosevelt aircraft carrier to raucous cheers from his crew after being fired for raising the alarm on the spread of the coronavirus on the ship.

The vast outpouring of support for the dismissed captain was captured on video by those on or near the ship who recorded as the crew yelled his name in between unison claps.

The captain of a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier facing a growing outbreak of the coronavirus on his ship was fired on April 2 by Navy leaders who said he created a panic by sending his memo pleading for help to too many people.