 Welcome to All Hands Update, this is your week in Navy history. On July 12, 1990, Commander Rosemary B. Mariner became the first woman to command an Operational Aviation Squadron. She was one of the first women to qualify as a naval aviator. July 13, 1943, Allied forces intercepted Japanese reinforcements attempting to land in the Solomon Islands, resulting in the Battle of Columbia, N. Gara. The Navy lost USS Gwynn in the battle. Gwynn received five battle stars for service in World War II. On July 16, 1915, the battleships USS Ohio, USS Missouri, and USS Wisconsin became the first U.S. Navy combatant ships to transit the Panama Canal, stemming from the Atlantic to the Pacific. The Panama Canal was relied upon heavily during World War I as it allowed the United States to cut travel distance by nearly 8,000 miles. To learn more about the Navy's history, visit the Naval History and Heritage Command website.