[1] He was promoted to sub-lieutenant on 16 January 1933[3] but in the same year the 'bullshit' of the gunnery course at HMS Excellent on Whale Island made him determined to only serve in small ships without guns.

[2] He was promoted to lieutenant on 16 March 1935[3] and was present the same year at the Fleet Review for King George V's Silver Jubilee off Spithead whilst serving in the newly built River-class submarine HMS Clyde.

During this time Raikes, after a couple of hours shunting practice at Haifa station, was in command of an armoured train, keeping the line to Samakh open despite ambushes and derailments.

[1] On one night he joined the Trans-Jordan Frontier Force and rode his horse at full gallop across the country by the light of a burning oil pipeline.

[1] On the same patrol, Raikes heard the propeller noise of a U-boat surfacing and carried out an attack with his stern torpedoes; there was an explosion and black smoke, but no wreckage was found.

These orders stated that a "small party of approximately twelve officers and men will be disembarked from the submarine in the vicinity of the mouth of the Gironde estuary.

On 30 November 1942 in Holy Loch, Tuna embarked thirteen Royal Marines from the Boom Patrol Detachment and Raikes received his orders, sailing south on passage to the Bay of Biscay.

On the evening of 7 December 1942, Raikes navigated HMS Tuna his way underwater through a fishing fleet and an RAF minefield before deciding to run a serious risk by moving the canoe launch point two miles south into the mouth of the Gironde.

Raikes recorded in his post-operational report, "2022 waved 'au revoir' to a magnificent bunch of black faced villains with whom it has been a real pleasure to work, and, withdrew to the south and west".