Whenever in time of war the Secretary of the Navy certifies to a court, or to a judge of a court, in which a suit described in section 8891 of this title is pending, that the prosecution of the suit would tend to endanger the security of naval operations in the war, or would tend to interfere with those operations, all further proceedings in the suit shall be stayed.

A stay under this section does not suspend the issue of process to take or preserve evidence to be used in the trial or prevent the completion of action under similar process issued before the stay.