 He spent three years in the West Indies and then served on survey vessels under William Fitzwilliam Owen in Africa, as second-in-command of under Edward Belcher in the East Indies, and as captain of in the First Opium War with China during which he was promoted to commander in 1841 and post-captain in 1842.In 1845 Kellett was appointed captain of the survey ship as part of a hydrography survey mission, the primary objective of which was to survey the coast of North America from Guayaquil to Vancouver, including the Galápagos Islands.He was temporarily reassigned in 1848 to join the search for Sir John Franklin.