The letter was fine up to here:
” I am entirely convinced that your Commanding Officer loves you, and that he had you at the center of his heart and mind in every decision that he has made. I also know that you have great affection, and love, for him as well....”
WHAT? Touchy Feely or what?
The probable reason the captain was relieved was exactly because he was too Touchy Feely.
More Touchy Feely is not the proper response.
Do it because you were ORDERED to do it. Because of the RESPECT for superiors REGARDLESS of personalities.
The “captain” (regardless of rank) of the ship is THE CAPTAIN OF THE SHIP! PERIOD! (Until he isn’t.)
He doesn’t want your “love”. He SHOULDN’T! What do you think this is... Jr. High!
THIS IS WAR! Like the the Acting Secretary of the Navy Thomas B. Modly said We are not at peace.We NEVER are.
The “military bearing” in this captain and in his crew was lacking.
After reading most of the letter, I agree that the captain acted poorly and against orders. He should have been relieved of his command. It was the right thing to do.
Oh BS. I don't remember doing anything much while on active duty on a sister of the USS WH Batesfish because I was ordered to. I mostly just did my job, which included standing engineering and deck watches, training, supervising maintenance and enough admin that I kept they XO off my back.
You got in trouble not for violating chains of command or disobeying direct orders (I almost never received what I would call a direct order and almost nothing gets done by just complying with orders and regs or strictly following the Chain of Command), but because you didn't do your job, which was doing your part towards running and fixing the boat or because you embarassed the ship by not doing your job and then topping it off by advertising it to the world.
And I sure didn't spend my time ordering around my subordinates who were trained experts on the maintenance and operation of specific pieces of equipment who knew far more about their stuff than I ever could.
Sure orders are there and chains of command are there and you respect them, but it's a bit like tying your shoes - it's something you sort of do, but it's not where your head is at while you are trying to do a very complex job that no one else can do for you.