Almost 40 sailors from the coronavirus-infected aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt who initially tested negative have since tested positive, the Navy told The Chronicle on Thursday.

Some of those who tested negative were moved from the ship into hotels on the island — a controversial move on the U.S. territory battling its own coronavirus outbreak — and have since been sent to the naval base there, a sailor told The Chronicle. The Chronicle agreed to withhold the name of the sailor, who was not authorized to speak to the media, in accordance with its anonymous sources policy.

The Navy on Thursday also identified the Roosevelt crew member who died from COVID-19 complications as Aviation Ordnanceman Chief Petty Officer Charles Robert Thacker Jr., 41, of Fort Smith, Ark.

Thacker, who is survived by his wife and two children, died Monday after being found unresponsive in a Guam base house where he had been quarantined with four other sailors since testing positive for the virus March 30.

Thacker’s wife is an active-duty sailor stationed in San Diego, where the family lives. She was flown to Guam and was by her husband’s side at the time of his passing, the Navy said.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with the family during this difficult time,” said Capt. Carlos Sardiello, the Roosevelt’s commanding officer. “Our No. 1 priority continues to be the health and well-being of all members of the Theodore Roosevelt Strike Group and we remain steadfast in our resolve against the spread of this virus.”

The development of previously healthy sailors later testing positive illustrates the difficulty the Navy and others have in combating the virus. A negative test doesn’t eliminate the possibility of becoming infected and contagious later. It also explains why some Guam residents expressed concerns about allowing sailors from the ship off the base.

“If a sailor tests positive from a hotel, then they would be moved to isolation under medical supervision on base,” said Cmdr. Clay Doss, Navy assistant chief of information, in an email. “This is all part of getting the sailors through the testing/quarantine/retesting cycle and back on the ship.”

The Roosevelt, a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, arrived on Guam on March 27 after an outbreak on the ship. It became national news after its commanding officer, Capt. Brett Crozier, wrote a candid letter to his superiors seeking help in stemming the spread aboard the cramped warship. The Santa Rosa native was ousted from command by acting Secretary of the Navy Thomas Modly, who subsequently resigned after addressing the crew and disparaging Crozier.

The Washington Post on Thursday published the text of the March 30 email Crozier sent containing the letter to Navy brass, which The Chronicle first published days later.

“I fully realize that I bear responsibility for not demanding more decisive action the moment we pulled in, but at this point my only priority is the continued well-being of the crew and embarked staff,” Crozier wrote in the email. “... I believe if there is ever a time to ask for help it is now regardless of the impact on my career.”

Modly said Crozier had been sloppy by sending the email to 20 to 30 people and allowing it to get outside the chain of command and undermine national security. He cited that as his reason for dismissing Crozier. But according to the Post, the email actually went to 10 fellow officers: three admirals and seven captains.

The captain’s email said that there were not adequate facilities to offload his crew.

“While I understand that there are political concerns with requesting the use of hotels on Guam to truly isolate the remaining 4,500 Sailors 14+ days, the hotels are empty, and I believe it is the only way to quickly combat the problem,” Crozier wrote.

An investigation into Crozier’s letter and the Roosevelt ordeal has been completed and is in the hands of the Navy’s chief of naval operations, Adm. Michael Gilday, who will make recommendations to Defense Secretary Mark Esper. Crozier’s reinstatement is possible, said Gilday’s spokesman, Nate Christensen.

“As the Chief of Naval Operations has made clear, all options are on the table,” Christensen said. “Adm. Gilday has received, and is reviewing the preliminary inquiry. It will take time for the report to be reviewed and endorsed. ... No final decisions have been made.”

Also on Thursday, a number of senators, including California’s Kamala Harris, sent acting Navy Secretary James McPherson a letter seeking answers about safety protocols.

“[T]he Navy must reconsider its current assumption that servicemembers are at low-risk for serious COVID-19 cases after alarming statements by multiple Pentagon leaders downplayed health hazards,” the senators wrote. “It is increasingly apparent that young and otherwise healthy people are not immune from serious complications after contracting COVID-19, and such assumptions could dangerously dissuade DoD personnel from seeking medical assistance, prevent medical professionals from responding appropriately to deteriorating health conditions, or compromise health outcomes for any servicemembers or civilians who contract COVID-19.”

After Crozier’s plea, the Navy secured thousands of hotel rooms in exchange for sending the Guam government personal protective gear to help medical staffs there fight the coronavirus problem on the island. As of Thursday, the small island has had 135 cases and five deaths. At the time, Gov. Lou Leon Guerrero acknowledged her constituents had concerns about allowing the sailors off the base and into hotels, but she assured them that the crew members had tested negative.

Requests for comment from Guerrero were not immediately returned.

Having 39 sailors test positive after an initial negative test is not unusual. Earlier this week, Esper said only about a third of the infected sailors from the ship had shown symptoms.

As of Thursday, 655 Roosevelt sailors had tested positive, and a sixth crew member had been hospitalized. Thacker’s is the only death so far; another sailor was moved to an intensive care unit with breathing difficulties. The tested portion of the crew remained at 94%.

Inside the newsroom Anonymous sources: The Chronicle strives to attribute all information we report to credible, reliable, identifiable sources. Presenting information from an anonymous source occurs extremely rarely, and only when that information is considered crucially important and all other on-the-record options have been exhausted. In such cases, The Chronicle has complete knowledge of the unnamed person’s identity and of how that person is in position to know the information. The Chronicle’s detailed policy governing the use of such sources, including the use of pseudonyms, is available on SFChronicle.com.

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Matthias Gafni is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: matthias.gafni@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @mgafni