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Bainbridge name long-linked to fight against piracy
Topic Started: Apr 15 2009, 07:31 PM (112 Views)
XNavyGunner
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Gunner

The Navy ship that helped rescue an American hostage from Somali pirates Sunday, then two days later raced to the scene when brigands fired grenades at another U.S.-flagged vessel, couldn't be more aptly named.

The USS Bainbridge recalls a 19th century naval war hero who was held prisoner by Barbary pirates and later faced them down to end their attacks in the Mediterranean. The ship's website tells the tale.

Commodore William Bainbridge was one of the founders of the U.S. Navy when Congress created it in 1798. His first command was of the schooner Retaliation.

Two years later, he skippered the frigate George Washington when it was sent to carry tribute, or a bribe, to the ruler of Algiers to protect American merchant fleets. He was forced to ferry the Algerian ambassador and his retinue to Constantinople and humiliated further by being made to fly the Algerian flag on his ship.

Matters worsened in 1803, when Bainbridge returned to the Barbary Coast as commander of the Philadelphia. After capturing a Moorish ship-of-war and retaking an American brig, the Philadelphia ran aground off Tripoli. Bainbridge and his crew were captured and held for 19 months.

He was released in 1805 and rehabilitated his career by winning a major sea battle in the War of 1812. Three years later he returned to the Mediterranean with another war hero, Stephen Decatur. Together they used diplomacy and a show of force to end piracy and the paying of tribute off the coast of North Africa and forged a peace settlement with the rulers of what is now Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria and Libya.

The Norfolk, Va.-based destroyer now part of an international armada of warships battling the latest scourge from the sea off the Somali coast is the fifth Navy ship to bear the Bainbridge name. The ship's crest includes an olive wreath recalling Commodore Bainbridge's diplomatic missions.

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Proud Navy tradition and history!
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Max
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Pickle barrel, pickle barrel, Kumquat!
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That's excellent,Gunner! :) I love learning the "whys" of warship names.

We should commission a new USS Retaliation.
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