YOKOSUKA NAVAL BASE, Japan — Capt. Charles E. Taylor ended his 32-year U.S. Navy career with a combined retirement and change-of-command ceremony Monday at Yokosuka Naval Base.

Taylor was the Navy’s first nurse to command a hospital — U.S. Naval Hospital Yokosuka — and was presented with the Legion of Merit by Commander, Naval Forces Japan Rear Adm. James Kelly, according to a hospital news release.

He was relieved as commanding officer by Capt. Michael J. Krentz, who joined the Navy in 1991 after a civilian career in emergency medicine. His duty stations include Carrier Air Wing 8; USS George Washington; Naval Medical Center, Portsmouth, Va.; National Naval Medical Center, Bethesda, Md., as the deputy commander; and command surgeon for U.S. Fleet Forces Command, U.S. Joint Forces Command and NATO Supreme Allied Command Transformation.