Battle of Attu
On November 5, 1941, Rockwell assumed command of the 16th Naval District, consisting of the Philippine Islands. He was present in Cavite Navy Yard when it was bombed on December 10, 1941. Most of Cavite's facilities were destroyed and the submarine was sunk. Rockwell estimated that 500 men were killed. The next day, with fires still burning, he recommended Cavite be stripped of usable fuel and equipment and abandoned. He organized the withdrawal of remaining Allied naval forces and civilian ships from the Philippines and left in March 1942 via PT boat. Then, he planned the naval transport of the invasion force for the Battle of Attu of May 1943. He returned to the Navy Department in 1943 and commanded the Atlantic Fleet's Amphibious Training Command until the end of the war.