Acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly's impassioned 15-minute speech to the sailors aboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt on Sunday was met with dismay and anger.

In an audio recording obtained by Insider, some of the service members were not receptive to his message.

"Yeah, that was, uh ... It's almost like we got an ass-chewing. Almost," one person said. "And he kind of called us p---ies."

"He was like, 'B----, I said what I said,'" a different person said.

In a recording of Modly's speech obtained by Task & Purpose, one person could be heard saying "What the f---?" when Modly said Crozier was "too naive or too stupid to be commanding officer of a ship like this."

Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

The acting Navy secretary's impassioned 15-minute speech to the sailors aboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt on Sunday was met with anger from some people who supported its former commander, Capt. Brett Crozier, who was removed from command last week amid a coronavirus outbreak on the ship.

Acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly, who visited the ship in Guam, used the carrier's announcement system to address the roughly 5,000 people in the ship's crew, squadrons, and staffs. Modly fired Crozier on Thursday, after the captain emailed an urgent plea to over 20 colleagues. In his four-page letter, Crozier asked for "a political solution" and "immediate and decisive action" as his crew dealt with the outbreak.

Modly said Crozier violated military protocols, circumventing the chain of command by sending the letter to a group of people. Modly said that while he did not know how the letter got to news outlets, there was a "proper way" for Crozier to handle his concerns.

Videos of Crozier leaving the Roosevelt on Friday showed the crew cheering and chanting his name.

Modly was apparently aware of the support Crozier had among his sailors but told them that Crozier was "too naive or too stupid to be commanding officer of a ship like this." In a recording of Modly's speech obtained by Task & Purpose, one person could be heard saying, "What the f---?"

"I cannot control or attempt to change whatever anger you have with me for relieving your beloved CO," Modly said.

"I understand that you may be angry with me for the rest of your lives," he added. "I guarantee you won't be alone."

In an audio recording obtained by Insider, some of the service members were not receptive to his message.

"That's all I got to say about that," one person said after Modly gave his remarks.

"Yeah, that was, uh ... It's almost like we got an ass-chewing. Almost," another person said. "And he kind of called us p---ies."

"He was like, 'B----, I said what I said,'" a different person said.

More than 150 service members aboard the carrier have tested positive for the coronavirus. Crozier has also tested positive, The New York Times reported on Sunday. About 2,700 crew members are expected to be evacuated from the ship in the coming days to curb the coronavirus' spread.

Modly's office did not respond to a request for comment about his leaked remarks, but a statement attributed to him on Monday said, "I stand by every word."