Educated at Ampleforth College and Britannia Royal Naval College, Rapp was Navigating Officer of HMS Bronington when Lieutenant The Prince of Wales was in command in 1976.
[3] His time in command included the production of a BBC documentary about the ship directed by Chris Terrill.
[4] He later became commanding officer of the frigate HMS Cornwall, then commander of the 2nd Frigate Squadron in May 1998 and Flag Officer Sea Training in November 2001, serving until April 2004.
[5] Prior to retirement Rapp became director general of Trafalgar 200[6] for which he was appointed Companion of the Order of the Bath in the 2006 New Year Honours.
[7][8] After retirement Rapp became senior naval advisor to CAE Inc., a Canadian manufacturer of simulation technologies.