WASHINGTON — The Navy will relieve an aircraft carrier commander over sexually explicit videos, according to defense officials this morning.

A Navy captain’s command of a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier has been under scrutiny after raunchy comedy videos he made and showed to his crew surfaced years after they were produced, causing an embarrassment for the Pentagon.

Capt. Owen Honors was chief executive officer — or second in command — of the USS Enterprise when he broadcast the videos that used gay slurs, mimicked masturbation and staged suggestive shower scenes. He now commands the ship awaiting deployment from the port city of Norfolk.

Asked if Honors’ command was at risk, Cmdr. Chris Sims of U.S. Fleet Forces Command had told The Associated Press in an e-mail Monday: “The investigation currently being conducted will provide the necessary information to make that decision in an informed manner.”