Any grounding or collision is the end of the Captain’s career. Sorry to hear of this incident.
The Spruance I was on and later left with an honorable in 93 went back to the PG later that year.
Several months after I got out, an acquaintance of mine ran down my phone and called me up. He had transferred on a little after I left but he kept in touch with some of the former crew.
He found out from one of them that the CO had ran the old tub aground on some reefs in the Indian Ocean and went silent for a couple of days. He hoped for a tide to lift him out. It never did. He finally called home to report his problem.
The next day, a chopper landed just long enough for a real captain to come on board and the commander to get on.
A few months back I was talking to some guy at my church who is an officer in Naval Reserves. He was active then. We got to talking some and the Nicholson reef incident came up. He confirmed the story as it was quite the hot topic in some circles.
Depends on circumstances. Ltjg Chester Nimitz grounded his destroyer in Caviti before WWI. At his courts martial, he proved the Navy provided navigation charts were inaccurate.
He was exonerated of any wrong doing and we know how his career turned out.