Christopher Myngs Sir Christopher Myngs ( 1625 – 1666 ) , English admiral and pirate , came of a Norfolk family and was a relative of another admiral , Sir Cloudesley Shovell . Pepys ' story of his humble birth , in explanation of his popularity , is said to be erroneous . His name is often given as " Mings " . Life . The date of Myngs ' s birth is uncertain , but probably somewhere between 1620 and 1625 . It is probable that he saw a good deal of sea - service before 1648 . He first appears prominently as the captain of the " Elisabeth " , which after a sharp action during the First Anglo - Dutch War brought in a Dutch convoy with two men - of - war as prizes . From 1653 to 1655 he continued to command the " Elisabeth " , high in favour with the council of state and recommended for promotion by the flag officers under whom he served . In 1655 , he was appointed to the frigate " Marston Moor " , the crew of which was on the verge of mutiny . His firm measures quelled the insubordinate spirit , and he took the vessel out to the West Indies , arriving in January 1656 on Jamaica where he became the subcommander of the naval flotilla there , until the summer of 1657 . In February 1658 , he returned to Jamaica as naval commander , acting as a commerce raider during the Anglo - Spanish War . During these actions he got a reputation for unnecessary cruelty , sacking and massacring entire towns in command of whole fleets of buccaneer s . In 1658 , after beating off a Spanish attack , he raided the coast of South - America ; failing to capture a Spanish treasure fleet , he destroyed Tolú and Santa Maria in present - day Colombia instead ; in 1659 he plundered Cumaná , Puerto Caballo and Coro in present - day Venezuela . The Spanish government considered him a common pirate and mass murderer , protesting to no avail to the English government of Oliver Cromwell about his conduct . Because he had shared half of the bounty of his 1659 raid , about a quarter of a million pounds , with the buccaneers against the explicit orders of Edward D ' Oyley , the English Commander of Jamaica , he was arrested for embezzlement and on the " Marston Moor " sent back to England in 1660 . The later governor described him in an accompanying letter as " unhinged and out of tune " . The Restoration government retained him in his command however , and in August 1662 he was sent to Jamaica commanding the " Centurion " in order to resume his activities , despite the fact the war with Spain had ended . This was part of a covert English policy to undermine the Spanish dominion of the area , by destroying as much as possible of the infrastructure . In 1662 Myngs decided that the best way to accomplish this was to employ the full potential of the buccaneers by promising them the opportunity for unbridled plunder and rapine . He had the complete support of the new governor , Lord Windsor , who fired a large contingent of soldiers to fill Myngs ' s ranks with disgruntled men . That year he attacked Santiago de Cuba and took and sacked the town despite its strong defences . In 1663 buccaneers from all over the Caribbean joined him for the announced next expedition . Myngs directed the largest buccaneer fleet as yet assembled , fourteen ships strong and with 1400 pirates aboard , among them such notorious privateer s as Henry Morgan and Abraham Blauvelt , and sacked San Francisco de Campeche in February . The atrocities led to an outrage and Charles II of England was forced to forbid further attacks in April , a policy to be carried out by the new governor , Thomas Modyford . Nevertheless a pattern had been set and large buccaneer attacks on Spanish settlements , secretly condoned by the English authorities would continue till the end of the century , gradually laying waste to the entire region . During the attack on Campeche Bay Myngs himself had been severely wounded ; in 1664 he returned to England to recover . In 1665 he was made Vice - Admiral in Prince Rupert ' s squadron . As Vice - Admiral of the White under the Lord High Admiral James Stuart , Duke of York and Albany , he flew his flag during the Second Anglo - Dutch War at the Battle of Lowestoft in 1665 , and for his share in that action received the honour of knighthood . In the same year he then served under Edward Montagu , 1st Earl of Sandwich , as Vice - Admiral of the Blue and after the disgrace of Montagu under the next supreme fleet commander , George Monck , 1st Duke of Albemarle . He was on detachment with Prince Rupert ' s Green squadron , when on 11 June 1666 the great Four Days ' Battle began , but returned to the main fleet in time to take part on the final day , and in this action when his flotilla was surrounded by that of Vice - Admiral Johan de Liefde he received a wound — being hit first through the cheek and then in the left shoulder by musket balls fired by a sharpshooter when his " Victory " was challenged by De Liefde ' s flagship , the " Ridderschap van Holland " — of which he died shortly after returning to London .