but I would venture to guess that a captain still had responsibilities even when his ship was in port provisioning.

My experience with the military (husband active duty USAF for 16 years) has been that impulsiveness and initiative in deciding whether one reports to duty or not are not smiled upon, even in peace time! The death of a close friend's fiance would not be enough reason to guarantee leave would be granted. Even with the death or imminent death of an immediate family member you must go through the proper channels before leaving your duty station--granted, the powers that be generally are willing to move heaven and earth to get you out within a few hours, but you still need authorization.

So, my first read of this situation induced the reaction of a shocked gasp! My guess is that CW is a good, well-respected captain, and most likely has an excellent working relationship with his superiors. However, if someone had it in for him or was just having a grumpy day, I do believe his actions could have had unpleasant ramifications.