He started his career at sea on East Indiamen, before serving during the American Revolutionary War under Charles Hector, comte d'Estaing and Pierre André de Suffren.

During the French Revolutionary Wars, he was promoted to command the 74-gun Trente-et-un Mai, taking part in the Glorious First of June and the Croisière du Grand Hiver.

He was made a Rear-Admiral and given command of a squadron to supply the Army of Egypt, but in Ganteaume's expeditions of 1801, he engaged in months of complicated manoeuvres to elude the Royal Navy and eventually failed his mission.

During the Trafalgar campaign, Ganteaume was to lead his squadron to the Caribbean to reinforce the ships of Pierre-Charles Villeneuve and Édouard Thomas Burgues de Missiessy, but he was blockaded by the British navy.

Ganteaume held various offices during the late First French Empire, and gave his loyalty to Louis XVIII during the Bourbon Restoration in France.

[1] In 1778, with the intervention of France in the American Revolutionary War, Ganteaume enlisted in the French Royal Navy as an auxiliary officer,[2] while Fier Rodrigue was purchased into naval service as a 54-gun ship of the line.

[2] During the Atlantic campaign of May 1794, he attempted to attach to the French fleet under Villaret-Joyeuse, but only joined late in the Glorious First of June; he took part in the last throes of the battle, where he was thrice wounded.

[2] In the winter, Geanteaume led Trente-et-un Mai in the Croisière du Grand Hiver, and notably rescued the crew of the stricken Scipion.

[4] Appointed Chief of staff to Rear-Admiral and Navy Minister Bruix,[4] Ganteaume took part in the French campaign in Egypt and Syria on the flagship Orient.

[1] On 22 August 1799, Ganteaume departed Alexandria with the frigates Muiron and Carrère, the aviso Revanche and a tartane,[1] ferrying General Bonaparte back to France.

[4] Bonaparte ordered the ships to sail close to the shore of Africa to elude British squadrons, and landed in Corsica, to finally arrive at Fréjus on 2 October.

After the Treaty of Lunéville ended the War of the Second Coalition in early 1801, Ganteaume was tasked with supporting the French forces involved in the Saint-Domingue expedition.

[4] In 1805, after the death of Vice-Admiral Latouche-Tréville and the outbreak of the Trafalgar Campaign, Napoléon briefly considered entrusting Ganteaume with an expedition to land an 18 000-man army in Ireland,[4] in a move similar to what had been attempted in 1796 with the ill-fated Expédition d'Irlande; eventually, Ganteaume was ordered to the Caribbean to land reinforcements there and return to Europe with the fleets under Rear-Admiral Missiessy and Vice-Admiral Villeneuve.