Adams was assistant surgeon Royal Navy on board HMS "Samarang" during the survey of the islands of the Eastern Archipelago, from 1843 to 1846. He edited the "Zoology of the voyage of H.M.S. Samarang" (1850). Adam White collaborated with him in the descriptions of the Crustacea from the voyage. In 1857, during the Second China War whilst serving as Surgeon on HMS "Actaeon", he was present at the storming of Canton and awarded the China War Medal. He retired as Staff Surgeon aboard flagship HMS "Royal Adelaide" at Plymouth in 1870.