The warship that U.S. Navy officials described as undeployable if they were not able to remove the unvaccinated commander was actually deployed when the assertions were made, the commander told a judge during a recent hearing. “No sir, I do not,” the commander, who has not been publicly named, said when asked whether he thought the officials’ statements were accurate. U.S. District Judge Steven Merryday, a George H. W. Bush appointee who is overseeing the case, ordered military officials in February not to take punitive action against the commander because they appear to have wrongfully denied the commander’s request for a religious exemption from the military’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate. In an emergency motion to the judge on Feb. 28, officials alleged the ruling was affecting military readiness because unvaccinated sailors “pose a risk to other personnel” since the COVID-19 vaccines have proven effective at halting the spread of the virus that …