Carpenter entered the navy in 1776 on board the HMS Foudroyant, then commanded by Captain Jervis, afterwards Earl St. Vincent.
In 1793 he was appointed to the Boyne, flagship of Sir John Jervis in the West Indies, and was promoted by the admiral to the command of the HMS Nautilus, 9 January 1794.
He was then employed on shore at the reduction of Martinique, and on 25 March 1794 was posted to the command of the Bienvenu, prize-frigate, from which he was moved in rapid succession to the Veteran of 64 guns and the Alarm of 32.
He continued actively employed in the West Indies till the following year, when he returned to England.
In 1799 he was appointed to the Leviathan of 74 guns, bearing Sir John Duckworth's flag in the Mediterranean and afterwards in the West Indies, whence he was compelled to invalid; and, taking a passage home in a merchant ship, he was captured by a French man-of-war and carried to Spain as a prisoner.