If a crew likes their CO it usually means he breaks the rules to be liked. When I was in either the XO or CO played the by the book jack wagon. The other got to play nice. Good cop bad cop if you will. Never did they commit a treasonous act of letting our enemy know of a reduction in strength. It was usually used for holiday skeleton crew, 1/2 day off or some such thing.
Bingo!!
That was my take when I first heard, "he was beloved by the crew".
I was on Navy ships where I liked the CO, but primarily I respected them FIRST!
I was a Quartermaster and worked directly with the CO and XO, (Tin Can Navy), and had officers I respected and enjoyed working with, but can not think of a single line officer I considered, "Beloved" by the crew.