Thermal desorption analyses (TDA) were conducted in high strength martensitic steels containing carbon from 0.33 to 1.0 mass pct, which were charged with hydrogen at 1223 K (950°C) under hydrogen of one atmospheric pressure and quenched to room temperature. In 0.33C steel, which had the highest M s temperature, only one desorption peak was observed around 373 K (100°C), whereas two peaks, one at a similar temperature and the other around and above 573 K (300°C), were observed in the other steels, the height of the second peak increasing with carbon content. In 0.82C steel, both peaks disappeared during exposure at room temperature in 1 week, whereas the peak heights decreased gradually over 2 weeks in specimens electrolytically charged with hydrogen and aged for varying times at room temperature. From computer simulation, by means of the McNabb-Foster theory coupled with theories of carbon segregation, these peaks are likely to be due to trapping of hydrogen in the strain fields and cores of dislocations, and presumably to a lesser extent in prior austenite grain boundaries. The results also indicate that carbon atoms prevent and even expel hydrogen from trapping sites during quenching and aging in these steels.