USS Bainbridge returns home Monday

One of the Norfolk-based ships instrumental in stopping pirates on the high seas is coming home.

The Navy announced this week that the USS Bainbridge will return to Naval Station Norfolk Monday.

The guided missle destroyer's crew of around 300 sailors has spent the last seven months patrolling the Gulf of Aden.

In April, the Bainbridge responded to a situation where Somali pirates seized control of the Norfolk-based cargo ship, Maersk Alabama.

The merchant ship's captain, Richard Phillips, was held hostage for several days in a lifeboat before Navy SEAL snipers aboard the Bainbridge shot and killed three pirates and rescued Phillips.