Captain Owen Honors apparently played the videos for laughs during deployments of the USS Enterprise, but some sailors were offended, said the Virginia-Pilot, which first reported on them.

The newspaper, which posted one of what were said to be dozens of videos on its website, said they were produced in 2006 and 2007 and shown to the carrier's 6,000 sailors when Honors was the ship's number two officer.

"Over the years I've gotten several complaints about inappropriate materials in these videos, never to me personally but, gutlessly, through other channels," Honors said in the introduction to what he said was the last video.

"This evening, all of you bleeding hearts... why don't just go ahead and hug yourself for the next 20 minutes or so, because there's a really good chance you're gonna be offended," he said.

Honors then proceeds to a segment in which he is filmed repeatedly using the "f" word, followed by another where he and others simulate masturbation to the song "Spank," and one in which two female sailors are depicted in a shower together.

Throughout the video, Honors, a former Top Gun fighter pilot, is seen making fun of surface warfare officers as "fags."

Honors was later promoted from executive officer to the commander of the Enterprise.

The navy said it was investigating but said the videos were not meant to offend.

"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," it said.