Most Jewish pirates were Sephardim who operated in the years following the Alhambra Decree ordering the expulsion of Iberia’s Jews. Upon fleeing Spain and Portugal, some of these Jews, with knowledge and skills in ship navigation, became pirates and turned to attacking the Catholic Empire’s shipping as both barbary corsairs from their refuge in the Ottoman dominions, as well as privateers bearing letters of marque from Spanish rivals such as the United Netherlands. This was payback for the property confiscations and torture of their brethren perpetrated by the Tribunal of the Holy Office of the Inquisition, as well as being highly lucrative. Many Jews also were involved in backing Spanish-attacking privateers economically.
Port Royal, infamously labeled the wickedest place on earth, was a hub of pirates, prostitutes and adventurers. By 1667, the infamous Captain Henry Morgan had been given letters of marque and was leading a fleet out of Port Royal. A number of his trusted captains were Jewish. Jewish pirates of Jamaica named their ships for ancient Jewish heroes and prophets like Prophet Samuel, Queen Esther and Shield of Abraham. They targeted Spanish and Portuguese merchant ships. In fact, Jewish privateers had long established themselves in the Caribbean.
One of the most famous Jewish pirates of Jamaica was Moses Cohen Henriques. Henriques started life as a secret Jew living under the Inquisition in his native Portugal. One of the most prominent merchants in Lisbon, he was discovered to be a practicing Jew in 1605 and publicly tortured, along with 150 other hidden Jews. This experience apparently led Henriques to decide to work against Spain and Portugal, the hosts of the brutal Inquisition. In 1628, with Piet Pieterszoon Hein, Henriques led the only successful capture of the Spanish treasure fleet, a haul of around US$1 billion.
Henriques went on to be a trusted advisor to Morgan, who himself was eventually knighted and made Lieutenant Governor of Jamaica. Cohen gave up piracy in old age when Sir Henry Morgan pardoned his longtime friend. The two lived out their days in Jamaica, their pirate ways behind them for good. In 1674, England’s King Charles II knighted Morgan in appreciation for the colorful sea captain’s bravery, and the economic havoc he wreaked on the Spanish empire in the New World.
Yaacov Kuriel was a captain of the Spanish fleet until he was caught by the Inquisition. He was freed by his sailors, most of whom were marranos themselves. For many years after that his only goal was revenge. He had three pirate ships under his command. Similarly, a pirate named David Abrabanel, joined British privateers after his family was butchered off the South American coast. He used the nom de guerre “Captain Davis” and commanded his own pirate vessel named Jerusalem. Henriques, Koriel and Abrabanel all spoke Ladino, or Judaeo-Spanish.
In 2008 an old Jewish cemetery was discovered outside Kingston. Some tombstones have not only Hebrew writing, but are also marked with the skull and crossbones — pirate symbols.