 While Woodward had served the longest term of any Commandant, U.S. Navy Yard, New York, or Commander, Third Naval District, in the 1930s and 1940s, those responsibilities have been separated between two naval officers ever since his command.In a speech delivered on what proved to be the eve of war, 6 December 1941, Woodward predicted that the United States Navy would soon be able to defeat any and all naval forces in the world, in both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans simultaneously.He was called back to active duty the very next day, and his words were proven prescient by his beloved Navy's successful prosecution of both the Pacific War and the Battle of the Atlantic.