Richard Phillips (born May 16, 1955) is an American merchant mariner and author who served as captain of the MV Maersk Alabama during its hijacking by Somali pirates in April 2009.
31-747: Captain Phillips may refer to: Richard Phillips (merchant mariner) , captain of the MV Maersk Alabama taken hostage by Somali pirates in April 2009 Captain Phillips (film) , a 2013 film about Captain Richard Phillips and the 2009 piracy incident Captain Phillips (soundtrack) , the 2013 soundtrack to the film of the same title Mark Phillips , former British Army captain and ex-husband of Anne, Princess Royal Topics referred to by
62-512: A Bafta award for Best Supporting Actor . Captain Phillips grossed $ 107.1 million in North America and $ 111.7 million in other countries for a worldwide total of $ 218.8 million, against its budget of $ 55 million. In an interview on the set of Captain Phillips for New York Daily News , Phillips describes his devotion to his crew, his feeling of success as a captain and his eagerness to get back to sea. "My crew were now safe, because
93-461: A film based on the hijacking and Phillips' book. It would be scripted by Billy Ray , and produced by the team behind The Social Network . The film, titled Captain Phillips , was released on October 11, 2013 and had its premiere showing at the 2013 New York Film Festival . It was praised for its direction, screenplay, production values, cinematography, and for the performances of Tom Hanks and Barkhad Abdi, with Abdi in particular winning
124-527: A little weight and get a little better-looking and he did neither." Since the release of Captain Phillips , there has been controversy over its portrayal of Phillips, with several crew members claiming that he was not the hero presented in the film, according to lawsuits filed by more than half of the crew of the Maersk Alabama . The crew members claim Phillips was at least partly at fault for an "insistence on being fast and making money ... [getting]
155-463: Is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Richard Phillips (merchant mariner) Of Irish descent, Phillips was born in Massachusetts and graduated from Winchester High School in 1973. His father, James Austin Phillips, was a teacher, head basketball coach, and assistant football coach at the high school. Phillips enrolled at
186-419: Is of concern," said Phillips, "I always told my crew it was a matter of when, not if." According to Chief Engineer Mike Perry, the crew sank the pirate speedboat shortly after the boarding by continuously swinging the rudder of the Maersk Alabama , swamping the smaller boat. As the pirates were boarding the ship, the crew members locked themselves in the engine room. The crew later successfully lured one of
217-532: Is the fifth ship to carry that name, and the 46th destroyer of a planned 75-ship class. Bainbridge is named in honor of Commodore William Bainbridge , who as commander of the frigate USS Constitution distinguished himself in the War of 1812 when he and his crew captured HMS Java , a 38-gun fifth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy . Since her commissioning in 2005, Bainbridge has been active in
248-527: The Maersk Alabama when it was located around 240 nmi (440 km) southeast of the Somalian port city of Eyl . With a crew of 20, the ship had departed from Salalah , Oman en route to Mombasa , Kenya . The ship was carrying 17,000 metric tons of cargo, of which 5,000 metric tons were relief supplies bound for Kenya, Somalia, and Uganda. "In that area of the world, any blip on your radar
279-460: The 13 June 2019 Gulf of Oman incident , Bainbridge responded to a distress signal from Kokuka Courageous , a Japanese oil tanker which caught fire after an apparent explosion while transiting the Gulf of Oman . According to US Defense officials, Bainbridge picked up all 21 crew members who had been rescued by a tugboat. In May 2022, Bainbridge was homeported out of Naval Station Norfolk and
310-792: The AN/SPY-1 radar indicative of the Aegis combat system , which allows the destroyer to track over 100 targets simultaneously. (Owing to the presence of the Aegis system, Bainbridge and her sisters are sometimes incorrectly referred to as Aegis-class ships.) She is also equipped with the Remote Mine-hunting System (RMS), which includes the Remote Mine-hunting Vehicle (RMV), an unmanned craft that detects, classifies, and localizes underwater mines. Bainbridge
341-574: The Bainbridge , leaving his three fellow pirates on the lifeboat with Phillips. On Sunday, April 12, Bainbridge captain Commander Frank Castellano concluded that Phillips' life was in immediate danger, based on reports that a pirate was pointing an AK-47 at his back. On Castellano's order, U.S. Navy marksmen from DEVGRU , commonly known as SEAL Team Six , deployed on Bainbridge' s fantail , opened fire and killed
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#1732780458338372-523: The Gulf of Aden in response to the hostage situation, and reached Maersk Alabama early on April 9. Maersk Alabama then departed from the area with an armed escort, towards its original destination of the port of Mombasa. On Saturday, April 11, Maersk Alabama arrived in Mombasa, still under U.S. military escort. Captain Larry Aasheim then assumed command. Aasheim had previously been captain of
403-452: The Maersk Alabama until Richard Phillips relieved him eight days prior to the pirate attack. An 18-man marine security team was on board. The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation secured the ship as a crime scene. On April 9, a standoff began between the Bainbridge and the pirates in the Maersk Alabama lifeboat, where they continued to hold Phillips hostage. Muse agreed to leave the lifeboat to negotiate with Navy officials on board
434-480: The Mediterranean Sea , but most of the attention she has garnered has been as a result of the failed hijacking attempt of the U.S.-flagged freighter MV Maersk Alabama by Somali pirates in April, 2009, which ended with the release of the vessel's master , Captain Richard Phillips , on 12 April 2009. After crewmen of the captured cargo vessel managed to retake the ship, the pirates retreated, taking
465-656: The United States 6th Fleet , an investigation was conducted that resulted in the three senior commanders being removed from duty. In a press release, a spokesperson says the Navy investigated Commander Sean Rongers for allegedly allowing gambling and storing fireworks on the ship, and for "poor program management and a poor command climate." The Navy also fired the ship's former Executive Officer, Commander Brandon Murray, and Command Master Chief Richard Holmes. Commander Martin "Marty" Robertson assumed command on 8 April 2016. In
496-777: The University of Massachusetts Amherst and planned to study international law but transferred to the Massachusetts Maritime Academy , from which he graduated in 1979. During his schooling, Phillips worked as a taxi driver in Boston . On April 6, 2009, the U.S. Maritime Administration , following NATO advisories, released a Somalia Gulf of Aden "advisory to mariners" recommending ships to stay at least 600 nautical miles (1,100 km; 690 mi) off Somalia's coast of east Africa. With these advisories in effect, on April 8, 2009, four Somali pirates boarded
527-580: The Alabama within 250 miles of the Somali coast..." The lawsuit was reportedly settled before it went to trial. Phillips told CNN's Drew Griffin in 2010 and in a court deposition in 2013 that he ignored the numerous warnings that urged him to go farther out to sea. When asked in 2013 why he decided not to take the ship farther offshore, Phillips testified, "I don't believe 600 miles would make you safe. I didn't believe 1,200 miles would make you safe. As I told
558-612: The Mediterranean such as Valletta, Malta ; A Coruña, Spain ; Istanbul, Turkey ; Crete , Athens, Greece ; as well as Port Louis, Mauritius ; Port Victoria, Seychelles in the Indian Ocean. 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 crew of Maersk Alabama were able to get to safety, after their captain had been taken hostage by
589-483: The crew, it would be a matter of when, not if ... We were always in this area." Between 2009 and 2011, pirates from Somalia had attacked ships as far away as 1,000 and even 1,300 nautical miles, although majority of attacks were within 200 nautical miles. USS Bainbridge (DDG-96) USS Bainbridge (DDG-96) is an Arleigh Burke -class guided missile destroyer in the United States Navy . She
620-598: The pirate attack, sailing as Master of the vehicle carrier M/V Green Bay until his retirement was announced by the International Organization of Masters, Mates and Pilots in October 2014. Just weeks after his rescue from the Somali pirates, the American talent agency Creative Artists Agency (CAA) signed Phillips, and auctioned off his life rights to the publishing and film industries in
651-534: The pirates lost their ladder and boat when they boarded the Maersk Alabama, so they couldn't get back onboard," says Phillips. "For me it was really a relief—my crew and ship were safe." Phillips also added, "I never lost hope for myself, but I didn't see a good ending coming out of it." Phillips commented in his interview that the rendition of the events is accurate, adding, "When I met [Tom Hanks], I told him if he's going to play me, he's going to have to put on
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#1732780458338682-439: The pirates, Abduwali Muse , into the engine room and overpowered him, stabbing him in the hand in the process and keeping him tied up for some 12 hours. The crew attempted to exchange the captured Muse for Phillips. According to a crew member, the pirates got into the ship's rescue boat with the captive Phillips, but it would not start, so the crew dropped a lifeboat and met the pirates to trade prisoners and switch boats. Muse
713-490: The pirates. 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. The destroyer shadowed and later encircled the Somali pirates during the standoff, at which time the pirates and Bainbridge began negotiating for the safe release of the captain who was held captive. On 12 April 2009, Captain Phillips
744-472: The same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Captain Phillips . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Captain_Phillips&oldid=1258890664 " Categories : Disambiguation pages Title and name disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description
775-406: The ship's master hostage in a lifeboat . 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. The story of this incident was turned into the 2013 motion picture titled Captain Phillips , starring Tom Hanks . Bainbridge
806-484: The spring of 2009. American publisher Hyperion Books optioned the rights for Phillips' memoir in May 2009. On April 6, 2010, A Captain's Duty: Somali Pirates, Navy SEALS, and Dangerous Days at Sea , was released. Columbia Pictures acquired the film rights in May 2009 also. In March 2011, it was announced that Tom Hanks would star as Phillips, Barkhad Abdi as Abduwali Muse and Faysal Ahmed as Najee in
837-420: The three pirates with bullets to the head. Phillips was rescued. One of the pirates was named Ali Aden Elmi, another's last name was Hamac, and the third remains unidentified. Muse was taken into custody aboard the Bainbridge . He later pleaded guilty to hijacking, kidnapping and hostage-taking charges and was sentenced to over 33 years in federal prison. Phillips returned to sea fourteen months after
868-643: Was floated from drydock and christened on 13 November 2004 at Bath Iron Works , Bath, Maine, sponsored by Susan Bainbridge Hay, Commodore William Bainbridge 's great-great-great-granddaughter. She was commissioned on 12 November 2005, with Commander John M. Dorey commanding in Port Everglades, Florida . Bainbridge assumed flagship for Standing NATO Maritime Group 1 (SNMG-1) from USS Normandy (SNMG-1 April 2007 – August 2007) and remained flagship from August 2007 until February 2008. While on deployment under SNMG-1, they visited various ports across
899-470: Was freed—reportedly in good condition— during a US Navy SEAL team assault . Three of the Somali pirates were killed by US Navy SEAL sharpshooters aboard Bainbridge , and one was captured. In January 2014, Bainbridge completed a six-month deployment to Sixth Fleet and returned to her homeport of Norfolk, Virginia. Upon returning to Norfolk, Virginia , in December 2015 following another deployment with
930-427: Was handed over to his fellow pirates, but the four Somalis then reneged on the exchange and left in the lifeboat, taking Phillips with them. "We returned him, but they didn't return the captain," said second mate Ken Quinn. The lifeboat was carrying ten days of food rations, water, and basic survival supplies. On April 8, the destroyer USS Bainbridge and the frigate USS Halyburton were dispatched to
961-583: Was portrayed by sister ship Truxtun . Bainbridge is one of 75 authorized Arleigh Burke -class guided missile destroyers, and is classified as a member of the Flight IIA–class variation that incorporate the 5"/62 caliber gun mount, an improvement over the previous 5 in (130 mm)/54 caliber gun mounts on the earlier Arleigh Burke -class destroyers. In addition to her guns, Bainbridge carries over 100 missiles of various types aboard two separate Mk 41 VLS magazines . Her superstructure features