In December 1627 Jacob Hendrikszoon Lucifer became the captain of the vessel Ter Veere following the death of his father Hendrik Jacobsz. Lucifer in the same year. Lucifer was part of a fleet that sailed under the command of Piet Heyn (who had captured the Spanish Silver fleet in 1628). (Roos, 1992).
On 4 August 1633 Lucifer was in charge of a Dutch vessel and was sailing near Los Organos. On arrival he discovered a Spanish vessel which was commanded by Don Miguel de Redin. The Dutch vessel had 46 cannon on board her and immediately attacked the vessel. The Spanish vessel sustained a lot of damage and lost much of her rigging. Don Miguel de Redin died of a gunshot in his leg during the attack. 15 Spanish crewmen also died of their wounds. After several hours Lucifer abandoned the attack and quickly sailed away to meet up with other Dutch vessels that were part of a fleet that was waiting for the Spanish Flota.
The Island of Curaçao was attacked by a Dutch fleet in 1634. The West India Company saw Curaçao as an excellent base of operations and wanted to conquer it . This fleet of 4 vessels which was commanded by Admiral Walbeeck (= Balbeque) sailed into the bay of St. Anna on 28 July. Men were sent ashore who began to build fortifications near the entrance to the bay. 4 cannon were transferred from the vessels to these fortifications. 12 more cannon were used to protect the entrance to the harbour.
The Spanish forces present during this attack were few in number. They retreated to a village nearby which they fortified to be able to defend themselves from an attack. On 30 July Walbeeck sent Lucifer to scout out the area around the village with 7 sloops. After checking out the fortifications around the village Lucifer attempted to start negotiations with the Spaniards but failed to do so. The Frenchman Pierre LeGrand was then sent to further scout out the area with 13 or 14 men.
After several skirmishes with the Spanish forces and after several times these forces retreated they surrendered after negotiating the conditions for surrender. The Spaniards and a number of others were then transported off the island to the coast of Venezuela and released.
In May or August 1638 Lucifer served under Cornelis Jol (Houtebeen or Pie de Palo) at the battle near Cabañas. According to a Spanish report of November 1638 the Dutch fleet consisted of 12 vessels under the command of Cornelis Jol and 5 sea robbers. They met a fleet of Spanish vessels (5 ships and 1 sloop) under the command of Admiral Don Carlos de Ibarra at the end of August. After a long and bloody battle with many casualties and much damage to vessels of both fleets Cornelis Jol managed to capture the vessels.
In this same year Lucifer is reputed to have asked for a pardon of the Spanish Crown which was granted. He offered to go to Havana immediately following this but he failed to arrive there (Wright 1934/1935).
In 1639 he captured a ship that was sailing from the Island of Providence to England. He asked one of the passengers to visit his mother in Havana for him (kupperman, 1995).
In 1641 Lucifer was again active as a privateer in Dutch service against Spanish vessels. In September that year he intercepted a Spanish vessel near Havana. This vessel was sailing from Cartagena when she was attacked by Lucifer. After a long and bloody battle with many Spanish casualties he managed to capture her.
Curaçao was his base of operations at that time and he had 5 ships under his command (Wright 1934/1935).