During his long career in the young American navy he served under six presidents beginning with John Adams and is notable for his many victories at sea.

Bainbridge was also in command of USS Philadelphia when she grounded off the shores of Tripoli, Libya in North Africa, resulting in his capture and imprisonment for many months.

[5] In 1796 after returning from Brazil, Bainbridge served aboard the merchant ship Hope, a small vessel of 140 tons with four nine-pound guns.

With the organization of the United States Navy in 1798, Bainbridge was included in the naval officer corps and in September 1798 was appointed commanding Lieutenant of the schooner USS Retaliation.

In March 1799, Bainbridge was appointed Master Commandant of the brig USS Norfolk of 18 guns and ordered to cruise against the French.

of USS George Washington, was given the ignominious task of carrying the tribute which the United States still paid to the Dey of Algiers to secure exemption from capture for U.S. merchant ships in the Mediterranean.

With George Washington under the guns of the fort and surrounded by the Dey's warships and military personnel Bainbridge reluctantly complied for fear of imprisonment, raised the Algerian flag on his masthead and delivered gifts of animals and slaves to Constantinople.

Before doing so he ordered all small arms thrown overboard, the powder magazine flooded and the naval signal book destroyed.

[19] Lieutenant Stephen Decatur commanding USS Intrepid executed a night raid into Tripoli, Libya harbor on February 16, 1804, to destroy Philadelphia.

[20][21][22] The capture of Philadelphia and its crew also motivated President Jefferson's decision to send William Eaton, a former Army officer, known for his brash and defiant diplomacy, to Tripoli in 1805 to free the 300 American hostages in what was the first U.S. covert mission to overthrow a foreign government.

Supported at sea by Isaac Hull, Captain of USS Argus, in an effective "combined operation", Eaton led the attack in the Battle of Derna on 27 April 1805.

After four separate bombardments from Preble's squadron, Bainbridge was released from the prison in Tripoli on June 3, 1805[23] and returned to the United States and received a warm welcome.

Shortly thereafter a Naval Court of Inquiry tasked with looking into his surrender found no evidence of misconduct, and he was allowed to continue serving.

On his release, he returned for a time to the merchant service in order to make good the loss of profit caused by his captivity.

Realizing war with the United Kingdom was imminent Bainbridge and Commodore Stewart hastened to Washington to urge President Jefferson and Congress to strengthen the country's naval forces.

[28][29] She had a crew of 300 men under Captain Henry Lambert[30] and was on her way to the East Indies, carrying the newly appointed Lieutenant-General Hislop of Bombay and his staff along with dispatches to St. Helena, Cape of Good Hope and every British port in the Indian and China Seas.

[14] In addition to her crew, Java was carrying officers and seamen who were to join the British fleet in the East Indies bringing her complement to around 400, among them Captain John Marshall who was to take command of a sloop of war stationed there.

Because of the heavy damage inflicted on Java and the great distance from the American coast, Bainbridge decided to burn his prize.

On March 3, 1815, the US Congress authorized deployment of naval power against the Regency of Algiers, and two squadrons were assembled and readied for war.

The now-deactivated United States Naval Training Center Bainbridge in Port Deposit, Cecil County, Maryland, was named for him.