Castellano was the commanding officer of Bainbridge during the April 12, 2009, rescue of Captain Richard Phillips from pirates off the coast of Somalia. On April 12, 2009, Phillips was rescued from his pirate captors.
According to Kirk Lippold, former commander of USS Cole and superior officer to Castellano at that time, in a statement about Castellano in the hours prior to the rescue, "He – Frank is absolutely rock solid. He is a very, very mature and experienced commanding officer. He's had command previously of one of our navy's patrol craft. So with him being on Bainbridge, I have absolute confidence that he's in the right place at the right time for a reason and that he'll do a great job there."