Captain Kidd was a respectable Sea Captain that had settled down in New York with his wife. One day, when he traveled to England on business, he was persuaded to lead a ship to hunt down pirates and prevent them from attacking British ships. He received a royal commision from King Richard the Third to attack any French ships, and pirates from Madagascar. He was given an especiall y fast ship, named the Adventure Galley.

During the first week at sea, most of his crewmen died of disease. The rest were mostly bloodthirsty pirates, that wanted him to attack any ship, for they were a greedy bunch. One crewman, especially, was giving Kidd a hard time. His name was William Moore. Kidd picked up a heavy barrel and threw it at Moore, because he thought that Moore was about to attack him with a chisel. Kidd eventually did start attacking all ships that crossed his path, for it was likely that his crewmen would have thrown him overboard if he hadn't!

Eventually Kidd's ship was captured and he was charged with the murder of his crewman (Moore) and with piracy. Captain Kidd tried to plead innocent, saying that he was at the mercy of his crew, but he was found guilty anyway. Kidd was an unlucky pirate, for even at his hanging, he had bad luck. The rope that was to hang him broke, and he had to be hanged a second time!

references-
The Pirate's Handbook by Margarette Lincoln
In profile-Pirates and Privateers by Jeremy Pascall