My take on it is... The Captain writing a questionable letter wasn’t a problem had it been kept private. The leak suddenly made higher ups feel they had to take control back.
Then the Admiral chewing him out wouldn’t have been an issue had he kept it private, but he did it publicly.
Hello kettle, meet pot.
The crew saw a Captain who was very much concerned about their personal well being and came to his support.
Just an unfortunate affair all around that certainly could have been handled better by the Officers.
The admirals are all hiding under their desks. It was the acting Navy Secretary, now resigned, that removed the boat captain. Presumably because the Navy brass did not want to be seen as being supportive of POTUS.
Time and again in the “Trump” admin Pentagon we have seen an abdication of leadership and refusal to support their CIC. Contrast that to the subservience shown to the community organizer from Chicago in DOD.
The commanding officer of this WAR SHIP was dead wrong, the Sec. of Navy was right removing him, however flying to Guam and making those remarks on the ship was also not a wise move on his part!! He should have removed the commanding officer and just left it at that!!