The USS Bulkeley's service with Combined Task Force 151 (CTF 151) has long stood as a sign of the United States' resolve in protecting maritime trade.

The USS Bulkeley, an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, served with distinction in CTF 151, a multinational naval task force that focuses on counter-piracy operations.

CTF 151 is one of five task forces under Combined Maritime Forces, the largest naval partnership in the world. The task force was established in 2009 to thwart persistent attacks by Somali pirates on freighters in the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean.

The USS Bulkeley's storied service included participation in operations that saw the capture of more than 75 Somali pirates during one deployment that ended July 2011.

In March 2011, the Bulkeley rescued the MV Guanabara, a Japanese-owned oil tanker, after it reported that it and its 24-person crew were under attack southeast of Oman.

Less than two months later, the Bulkeley responded to a distress call sent out by Panamanian flagged crude oil tanker MV Artemis Glory as a pirate skiff pursued it.

Armaments of the Bulkeley

Commissioned in December 2001, the Bulkeley is a member of the Flight IIA subclass of the Arleigh Burke class, which features side-by-side helicopter hangars housing two Seahawks and an enlarged flight deck.

Flight IIA destroyers center on the integrated Aegis Weapon System, which consists of advanced anti-air warfare and anti-submarine warfare systems, as well as the all-weather, long-range Tomahawk Weapon System, which can conduct land attacks.

They have Mark 41 Vertical Launching Systems for a total of 96 cells capable of defeating ballistic missiles, as well as air, sea and subsea threats.

Arleigh Burke-class destroyers can carry more than 90 Tomahawk missiles and are equipped with Standard Missile 3 (SM-3) and Standard Missile 6 (SM-6) surface-to-air missiles for ballistic missile defense.

The destroyers also carry a 12.7cm Mk 45 gun, a Phalanx Close-in Weapon System and the SeaRam Anti-Missile Defense system.

US Navy destroyers deployed in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Oman have repelled hundreds of attacks by the Iran-backed Houthis on shipping since last November.

One round of fire on January 9, for example, saw the Arleigh Burke-class destroyer USS Laboon, other vessels and F/A-18s from the aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower shoot down 18 drones, two anti-ship cruise missiles and a ballistic missile launched by the Houthis, Navy Times reports.

The USS Carney, Thomas Hudner, Gravely, Laboon and Mason destroyers are among the ships that the US Navy has awarded the Combat Action Ribbon for their actions against Houthi drones and missiles​.

The presence of these destroyers, along with support from other US naval assets, underscores the United States' ongoing commitment to maritime security.