During the Battle of Midway in May 1942, "Nokaze" was assigned to the reserve force for the Aleutian Islands Operation, which did not leave Japanese waters. Afterwards, it returned to patrol and escort duties based out of Ōminato through July 1943, when it was assigned temporarily to the IJN 5th Fleet for the mission to evacuate surviving Japanese forces from "Operation Cottage" (the evacuation of Kiska). "Nokaze" continued to be based at Ōminato for patrol and escort in northern waters until January 1945.