Commander shares his pride in Bainbridge's rescue effort

NORFOLK

Cmdr. Frank Castellano was ready for pirates.

After all, the commanding officer of the destroyer Bainbridge had honed his instincts on four previous deployments aboard warships, including a stint commanding a coastal patrol ship. He and his crew had completed countless training scenarios on how to combat pirates.

Thanks to coaching from the FBI and the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, Castellano also was unfazed by tense negotiations with the small band of outlaws holding an American container ship captain hostage on a lifeboat in the Indian Ocean.

But one thing did catch the 40-year-old from Virginia Beach a bit off guard, and it happened after the five-day ordeal off the coast of Somalia was over: a congratulatory phone call from President Barack Obama.

"I had never, ever imagined in my life that I'd have the pleasure and honor to talk to the president of the United States, especially under this sort of circumstance," Castellano said during a phone interview with The Virginian-Pilot on Wednesday.

The commander and his commander in chief spoke for three or four minutes on Sunday - a long time to chat with the president, Castellano noted.

Obama said he wanted the sailors on the Bainbridge to know that he was proud of the team effort that went into the rescue.

The incident ended when Castellano gave approval for commandos positioned on the destroyer's fantail to fire at three Somali pirates holding captain Richard Phillips captive in a lifeboat.

Phillips, commander of the Maersk Alabama, had used himself as a bargaining chip days earlier when four armed pirates took control of the Norfolk-based cargo ship - his captivity for his crew's freedom.

The Norfolk connection was not lost on the Bainbridge's crew.

"Day in and day out, coming in and out of Hampton Roads, we would see the Maersk ships," Castellano said. And even though the Alabama doesn't regularly sail out of Norfolk, sailors know merchant mariners rotate among the company's ships.

"We found it very ironic that here we were, halfway around the world, and we're looking at a lifeboat that has 'Maersk Alabama, Norfolk, Virginia,' stamped on the side of it."

Castellano said his crew was too busy to realize the world's gaze was upon their ship and their little slice of the Indian Ocean. But they knew that Phillips was one of the first American mariners captured by pirates, and that mattered.

Pirates who operate along the lawless Somali coast have not been violent with captives in hundreds of merchant ship takeovers in recent years. Few mariners have died in their hands. But as the 100-degree days wore on, Castellano knew the pirates were becoming agitated.

They had agreed to allow the Bainbridge to hook up a tow line and provide food and water and basic supplies. But they didn't like the destroyer's rigid-hull inflatable boats coming close, and they had fired a few shots toward the Bainbridge.

As darkness fell Sunday, Castellano saw a pirate point an AK-47 at Phillips' back in the lifeboat. He gave special-operations snipers the go-ahead to shoot.

Minutes later, the pirates were dead, and Phillips was scrambling aboard the ship that had kept watch over him.

"Welcome aboard Bainbridge. I'm so glad you're here!" Castellano said he told his fellow mariner. "And he said, 'So am I.' He kept thanking everybody for being there for him, for knowing we were there, and being that visible presence. The times he could look out, when they opened the back door, he could see we were there. We weren't going to leave him."

Castellano said it was hard to convince the Maersk Alabama's crew they needed to take their ship to Mombasa after Phillips and the pirates set off in the lifeboat.

He had to convince them he'd take care of their skipper, something he thought about often during the ordeal.

"That was a factor in everything - we'd made a commitment to Capt. Phillips' crew, that we, the Bainbridge, and we, the U.S. Navy, would ensure his safety."

Castellano was quick to share credit with the greater Navy - and the Maersk crew, whom he lauded for taking back control of their ship. He praised Phillips' selfless action. He thanked the naval ship Halyburton, its helicopter detachment, and the amphibious assault ship Boxer for being on-scene.

Castellano gave his own crew effusive praise for enduring the five-day standoff. Everyone pulled extra duty, without complaint. He estimates he got 12 hours of sleep during the ordeal, napping occasionally in his cabin or taking catnaps in his chair on the bridge.

The Bainbridge skipper credits FBI and NCIS hostage experts with talking him through delicate negotiations with the pirates. They provided plenty of advice, from afar, both written and oral. His senior chief intelligence specialist, Joel Steinbach, was his "right-hand man" during those negotiations, Castellano said.

The captain offered the highest praise for the unnamed special operations team - thought to be SEALs - that came aboard about halfway through the standoff.

"Every citizen in the country should be happy and thankful that they're there," said Castellano, who lives in Virginia Beach with his wife, Lisa, and daughters Amanda and Katie.

"They are the quiet warriors. They go, they take their job seriously, they're highly professional, they do their mission, they do it very, very well, and then they go home, and they're in our community in Virginia, and they don't boast.

"They're some of the most down-to-earth people you'll ever meet in your life. I'm proud to be in the Navy with them."

Kate Wiltrout, (757) 446-2629, kate.wiltrout@pilotonline.com