When people refer to you as a “wicked and ill-disposed person”, you’re probably doing a good job of being a pirate. That was the reputation that preceded Thomas Tew. Like most in the business, Tew had started his career as a privateer, but turned to piracy as a faster way to make bank.

Together with his new pirate crew, Tew sailed to the Red Sea and confidently attacked a great Indian ship with more than 300 soldiers aboard. Somehow, they emerged victorious, each crew member receiving £3,000 from the spoils.

Not long after, Tew sailed to Rhode Island, where he was pardoned. But the call of booty was too great, and in 1695, Tew went back to the Red Sea, attacked a big ship and was killed in the process.