On 31 March 1931 , '' Lexington '' , which had been near Guantanamo Bay Naval Base , Cuba , was ordered to aid survivors of an earthquake that devastated Managua , Nicaragua . By the following day , the ship was close enough to launch aircraft carrying supplies and medical personnel to Managua . During Grand Joint Exercise No. 4 , '' Lexington '' and '' Saratoga '' were able to launch a massive airstrike against Pearl Harbor on Sunday , 7 February 1932 without being detected . The two carriers were separated for Fleet Problem XIII which followed shortly afterward . '' Lexington '' was assigned to Black Fleet , defending Hawaii and the West Coast against Blue Fleet and '' Saratoga '' . On 15 March , '' Lexington '' caught '' Saratoga '' with all of her planes still on deck and was ruled to have knocked out her flight deck and have badly damaged the carrier , which was subsequently ruled sunk during a night attack by Black Fleet destroyers shortly afterward . '' Lexington '' s aircraft were judged to have badly damaged two of Blue Fleet 's battleships
earthquake
1931 Nicaragua earthquake
USS Lexington (CV-2)