History
Bainbridge assumed flagship for Standing NATO Maritime Group 1 (SNMG-1) from USS Normandy (SNMG-1 April 2007 – August 2007) and remained flagship from August 2007 until February 2008. While on deployment under SNMG-1, they visited various ports across the Mediterranean such as Valletta, Malta; A Coruña, Spain; Istanbul, Turkey; Crete, Athens, Greece; and Port Victoria, Seychelles.
On 8 April 2009, Bainbridge was dispatched in response to a hostage situation in which Somali pirates had seized control of an American-flagged cargo vessel, the Maersk Alabama. The crew of the Alabama were able to get to safety, after their captain offered to be taken hostage by the pirates in exchange for the safety of his crew. He was taken to and held on a lifeboat. The destroyer shadowed and later encircled the Somali pirates during the standoff, at which time the pirates and Bainbridge began negotiating for the safe release of the captive captain. On 12 April 2009 Captain Phillips was freed—reportedly in good condition—during a US Navy SEAL team assault. Three of the Somali pirates were killed by US Navy SEAL sharpshooters aboard Bainbridge, and one was captured.
Read more about this topic: USS Bainbridge (DDG-96)
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