Taylor served on the East India Company ship "Elphinstone" as a midshipman until June 1843 when he was recommended to be made an officer. The following year he served in the brig "Taptee" under Commander Montriou where he surveyed the Concan coast off the coast of Mumbai, India. He was promoted to lieutenant in 1847 and served the next two years on the "Feroze" in the Red Sea. In 1850 he was appointed to command the survey ship "Pownah" where for six years he surveyed the Gulf of Cutch on the Malabar Coast. In 1855 he examined the port of Karwar, and then spent four years surveying Coringa Bay and Kakinada port on the Coromandel Coast and Cochin on the Malabar coast, surveying as far south as Calicut. In 1859 he piloted the expeditionary force against Wagher rebels involved in the Indian Rebellion of 1857-1859 at Bet Dwarka. In 1862, the Indian Navy was abolished and Taylor was pensioned off.