Bainbridge, Halyburton, and Boxer shadowed the pirates, and with FBI assistance attempted negotiations for the safe return of the captive captain until U.S. Navy SEAL snipers resolved the situation with deadly force.

Her superstructure features the AN/SPY-1 radar indicative of the Aegis combat system, which allows the destroyer to track over 100 targets simultaneously.

[citation needed] On 8 April 2009, Bainbridge was dispatched in response to a hostage situation in which Somali pirates had seized control of an American-flagged container vessel, Maersk Alabama.

The captain Richard Phillips was taken to and held on a lifeboat, and refused release in an unsuccessful attempt to exchange him for a pirate the ship's crew had captured.

[8] Upon returning to Norfolk, Virginia, in December 2015 following another deployment with the United States 6th Fleet, an investigation was conducted that resulted in the three senior commanders being removed from duty.

[10] In May 2022, Bainbridge was homeported out of Naval Station Norfolk and a part of Destroyer Squadron 28, along with Carrier Strike Group 8 led by the USS Harry S.