The USS Bulkeley commissioned on December 8, 2001. Her propulsion system contains four general electric gas turbine engines, and two shafts (100,000 SHP). Her length is 509 feet 6 inches, beam width 66 feet, displacement approximately 9,200 tons and speed 30+ knots. Her Armament contains Two MK 41 Vertical Launching Systems, (VLS) for Standard missiles, Vertical Launch ASROC (VLA) missiles and Tomahawk Land Attack (TLAM) Missiles. She has one 5-inch MK 45 gun, one Phalanx Close In Weapon System (CIWS), one SeaRAM Anti-Missile Defense System (AMDS), and two MK-46 torpedoes (from two triple tube mounts).

On 13 June 2004, Bulkeley came to the aid of a vessel in distress, Al-Rashid Mum 131. Shortly after turning the vessel over to an Iranian tugboat, it sank. Bulkeley rescued three crew and recovered the body of a fourth. The tug rescued one additional crewman; the other seven were lost at sea. The incident is recounted in the book In the Shadow of Greatness.

In February 2011, Bulkeley was involved in a mission to rescue four American citizens from the yacht Quest which was attacked by Somali pirates.

On 16 May 2011 Bulkeley responded to a mayday call from the Panamanian flagged very large crude carrier Artemis Glory by dispatching a Seahawk helicopter (from HSL 48) to its position. Seeing that a piratical skiff carrying four men was firing upon Artemis Glory, the Seahawk investigated the skiff. The pirates opened fire on the helicopter with small arms and were summarily neutralized by crew served weapons from the helicopter in self-defense. The helicopter then withdrew without any casualties to its own crewmembers or that of Artemis Glory.

The ship returned to Norfolk on 15 July 2011. During its deployment, she had participated in operations which had captured 75 Somali pirates and had missile strikes by its carrier strike group against the Libyan government.