 "Rockaway" was stationed at Staten Island in New York City, which remained her home port throughout her Coast Guard career.Her primary duty was to serve on ocean stations in the Atlantic Ocean to gather meteorological data.While on duty in one of these stations, she was required to patrol a 210-square-mile (544-square-kilometer) area for three weeks at a time, leaving the area only when physically relieved by another Coast Guard cutter or in the case of a dire emergency.