"Carpenter" began her first cruise to the Korean War zone on 4 February 1952, when she departed Pearl Harbor for duty in the Western Pacific. After arrival in Yokosuka, Japan, the destroyer conducted a hunter-killer training exercise off Okinawa before reporting to Task Force 77 (TF 77) on 3 March. Operating with the Fast Carrier Force, she spent the next month screening aircraft carriers and honing her ASW skills, missions interspersed with two trips to Wonsan harbor to pick up downed pilots for transportation back to the task force.