Caradoc Prinsep was born in Alexandria in Egypt on 3 March 1893, the son of Captain James Frederick Macleod Prinsep (Essex Regiment) and Mrs Evelyn Elizabeth Prinsep (née Campbell). He joined the Royal Navy as a Cadet on 15 January 1906. He was promoted to Midshipman on 15 September 1910 and was appointed to the cruiser HMS COCHRANE on 29 September 1911. He was promoted to Sub Lieutenant on 30 November 1913, having been appointed on 25 September 1913 to the cruiser HMS SUFFOLK. He was promoted to Lieutenant on 30 September 1915. His subsequent appointments were to the battleships HMS ROYAL SOVEREIGN on 18 April 1916 and HMS AJAX on 18 May 1917.

He joined HMS DOLPHIN for submarine training on 15 October 1917 and was then appointed to HMS E4 as First Lieutenant on 10 March 1918. He was further appointed to HMS G7 as First Lieutenant on 31 August 1918. G7 sailed for a patrol in the North Sea in October 1918. A message was received from the submarine on 23 October 1918, but no further contact was made. HMS G7 was declared as lost with all hands from unknown causes on 1 November 1918.

Caradoc Prinsep is commemorated on the Portsmouth Naval War Memorial on Panel No. 28.