The 1932 exercise imagined Hawaii occupied by an enemy, with the Army defending and the Navy sent to retake it. John Towers planned a surprise carrier attack before a Marine landing. Lexington and Saratoga separated from the battle fleet with destroyer escorts and made a high-speed approach to a launch position about 100 miles north of Oahu. Their aircraft surprised the defenders at dawn on Sunday. The battle fleet then followed with bombardment before the Marines landed. The exercise demonstrated that Hawaii was vulnerable to a fleet operation combining a carrier strike with an amphibious assault.
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Fleet Problem XIII demonstrated the Pearl Harbor attack in 1932
A carrier strike from north of Oahu opened an exercise to retake occupied Hawaii, followed by battleship bombardment and a Marine landing.