Carteret's health was ruined by his voyage of exploration. He was put on half pay, and in 1773, he wrote the story of the voyage as part of a book about the voyages of Byron, Wallis, Carteret and Cook. The book's editor John Hawkesworth, made changes to the story, so Carteret wrote his own book which was not printed until 1965. In 1779 he took the ship "HMS Endymion" to the West Indies. This was his last trip. He was promoted to Vice-Admiral and he retired to Southhampton in 1794. His personal papers are kept in the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich, England.