The armed services committee chairman has called on US Navy secretary to stand down after he apologised for calling a fired aircraft carrier captain “naive and stupid”.

Adam Smith said on Monday that Thomas Modly, the acting US Navy secretary, had been “tone death” in his handling of the situation on-board a US aircraft carrier amid an outbreak of coronavirus cases.

The committee chair, having criticised Mr Modly for focusing on his “personal ego” said: “I no longer have confidence in Acting Secretary Modly’s leadership of the Navy and believe he should be removed from his position,”

Mr Smith also called the secretary's firing of the USS Theodore Roosevelt captain “at best an overreaction to the extraordinary steps the Captain took to protect his crew.”

Mr Modly apologised publicly on Monday for his criticism of Captain Brett Crozier by saying that he was “smart and passionate” – and the “opposite” of naive and stupid.

A leaked audio recording revealed that the navy secretary had told sailors on board USS Theodore Roosevelt that their previous captain was “naive and stupid to be a commanding officer of a ship like this,”

Captain Crozier was dismissed from his position at the head of the USS Roosevelt last week after writing to senior Navy leaders pleading for assistance with an outbreak of the coronavirus on-board the aircraft carrier.

The captain had warned in the letter that “If we do not act now, we are failing to properly take care of our most trusted asset — our sailors.”

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The navy secretary instead told the crew of the USS Roosevelt that their previous captain had “betrayed” the White House with his warning about coronavirus.

Mr Modly later appeared to backtrack by saying: “I believe, precisely because he [Captain Cozier] is not naive and stupid, that he sent his alarming email with the intention of getting it into the public domain in an effort to draw public attention to the situation of his ship.