She is the second ship in the Navy named after Horatio Bridge, a Commodore who served during the Civil War.

On 29 June 2004, Bridge was formally decommissioned and transferred from the US Navy to Military Sealift Command (MSC).

In March 2011, in company with the carrier Ronald Reagan, Bridge was deployed off northeastern Honshu, Japan to assist with relief efforts after the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami.

[3] After multiple inspections for radiation traces due to the Fukushima nuclear disaster, it was determined that it was unlikely the ship was exposed to the radiation leaking from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant.

[5] In April 2013, it was announced that MSC will take Bridge, and her sister ship Rainier, out of service in 2014 as a cost-saving measure.