[1][5] After graduating from high school, Carpenter attended the University of Pittsburgh,[1] where he studied mechanical engineering and participated in the US Army ROTC (Reserve Officers' Training Corps) program.

[1][2][5][6] His classmates included Henry C. Bruton, Howard Gilmore, Lofton Henderson, Carlton Hutchins, Fitzhugh Lee, Max Leslie, Wade McClusky, Robert B. Pirie, and John Sylvester.

[8] His "extraordinary heroism, coolness and excellent judgment in the performance of duty" in the Leon detachment of the landing force on May 17, 1927, earned him the Navy Cross awarded by the President of the United States.

She was back in Philadelphia on December 7, and two days later, she returned to her post as the flagship of the Scouting Fleet, flying the flag of Vice Admiral Ashley Robertson.

She operated from Boston, training Naval Reservists, until assigned temporary duty on patrol off Cuba from September 1933 until February 1934, during which time Carpenter was aboard.

His wife, "Dottie", had the unique experience of sailing on the Gold Star with her husband and their infant son, who was named "Skipper" while on board the ship.

She made two quick dashes from Espiritu Santo to Guadalcanal, where the long and bloody battle for the island was then beginning, and having completed these missions, she joined the task force formed around the aircraft carrier Wasp.

During the Battle of Cape Esperance in October 1942, Carpenter navigated the Helena into combat to protect the transports carrying the 2,837 men of the 164th Infantry Regiment to Guadalcanal.

Vice Admiral Robert L. Ghormley—overall commander of Allied forces in the South Pacific—ordered Task Force 64 (TF 64), consisting of four cruisers (San Francisco, Boise, Salt Lake City, and Helena) and five destroyers (Farenholt, Duncan, Buchanan, McCalla, and Laffey) under U.S. Rear Admiral Norman Scott, to intercept and combat any Japanese ships approaching Guadalcanal and threatening the convoy.

Between 23:42 and 23:44, Helena and Boise reported their contacts to Scott on San Francisco, who mistakenly believed that the two cruisers were actually tracking the three U.S. destroyers that were thrown out of formation during the column turn.

At 23:46, still assuming that Scott was aware of the rapidly approaching Japanese warships, Helena radioed for permission to open fire, using the general procedure request, "Interrogatory Roger" (meaning, basically, "Are we clear to act?").

[17] In the early morning at 0124 hours on the night of November 13, Helena's radar first located the enemy from the rear center of the allied single column of ships just behind Portland.

Despite Carpenter's effort in plotting the enemy's course on radar, they had trouble communicating the information to Callaghan because of his inexperience operating the ships as a cohesive naval unit.

[23] During the almost post-blank melee and unable to fire her main or secondary batteries at the three US destroyers causing her so much trouble, the Japanese ship Hiei instead concentrated on San Francisco, which was passing by only 2,500 yd (2,300 m) away.

[24] Along with Kirishima, Inazuma, and Ikazuchi, the four ships made repeated hits on San Francisco, disabling her steering control and killing Admiral Callaghan, Captain Cassin Young, and most of the bridge staff.

The first few salvos from Hiei and Kirishima consisted of the special fragmentation bombardment shells, which reduced damage to the interior of San Francisco and may have saved her from being sunk outright.

[31] Departing from the Solomon Islands area with San Francisco, Helena, Sterret, and O'Bannon later that day, Juneau was torpedoed and sunk by the Japanese submarine I-26.

He told us that in the early part of his career he had taken special training on spotting and tracing torpedo wakes and that was one of the reasons he felt a little safer when he was on the bridge in treacherous waters.

One of Carpenter's shipmates, Lt. Bin "Red" Cochran[e], commanding the aft 5-inch battery on Helena, shot down a Japanese Aichi D3A Val dive-bomber with the second of three salvos of VT-fuzed shells near Guadalcanal.

After an overhaul in Sydney, Australia, and a brief leave, Carpenter was back on Helena, headed to Espiritu Santo in March to participate in bombardments of New Georgia Island, soon to be invaded.

The landing of troops was completed successfully by dawn, but during the afternoon of July 5, word came that the Tokyo Express was ready to roar down once more, and the escort group turned north to meet it.

By 01:57, the Battle of Kula Gulf had begun, and Helena began blasting away with a fire so rapid and intense that the Japanese later announced in all solemnity that she must have been armed with "6 inch machine guns".

The first enemy Type 93 torpedo, also called a Long Lance, could travel at 48–50 knots (89–93 km/h; 55–58 mph) and impacted Helena on the port side just below the number one turret (near frame 32), tearing off the bow of the ship.

Even though the forward momentum of the ship dropped off rapidly, the survivors were scattered over several hundred yards at night amidst a raging naval battle.

After more training, Carpenter and his ship loaded members of the 184th Infantry and a Regimental Combat Team and were assigned to Task Force 51 for the invasion of Okinawa.

[36] For his service during the war, Carpenter was awarded a number of medals and citations, including the Purple Heart for wounds received in combat during the Battle of Kula Gulf.

[1][8] Hocking arrived from the Asiatic on December 5, 1945, at San Pedro, and under Carpenter, he subsequently made another voyage to Guam and the Philippines, bringing home veterans.

The ship was modified as an animal research vessel in Task Group 1.1, commanded by Rear Admiral William Sterling Parsons, for the Operation Crossroads series of atomic bomb tests at Bikini Atoll.

The debate climaxed during the House Armed Services Committee investigation into the inter-service rivalry held in August 1949 and focused on the allegations of fraud and corruption emanating from the "Worth Paper".

There he wrote several genealogically related articles and completed a draft of a large 813-page book, The Descendants of William Carpenter (of) Rehoboth, Bristol County, Massachusetts.