Va.-based Navy destroyer at center of showdown

Less than two months into its latest deployment, the Virginia-based USS Bainbridge found itself at the forefront of a tense overseas showdown.

Snipers from the guided missile destroyer, which is homeported at Naval Station Norfolk, needed just three shots to take out three Somali pirates holding an American cargo ship captain hostage last night in the Indian Ocean.

Naval Station Norfolk officials acknowledged this morning that it was a proud day at the base after the crew of one of their ships engineered the safe return Richard Phillips, the captain of the Maersk Alabama.

Beyond that, however, base officials declined to comment on the reaction in Norfolk or on the ship, which left Feb. 20 for its latest deployment.

The 510-foot-long Bainbridge, built at Bath Iron Works and commissioned in 2005, carries a crew of about 270.

The fifth ship given the Bainbridge name, the destroyer is named in honor of Commodore William Bainbridge, who before he became a hero in the War of 1812 had his own encounter with pirates in the Indian Ocean. Bainbridge was taken captive while fighting the Barbary pirates of North Africa in the early 1800s.

The Maersk Alabama is owned by a Norfolk company, but officials there said it has operated exclusively abroad.