Herald staff
If you want to learn about conserving fuel, ask the people who run the USS Fife.
The Spruance class destroyer stationed at Naval Station Everett has been lauded for saving about $700,000 in fuel costs during the fiscal year that ended June 30.
It won the Secretary of Navy Energy Award in one of eight categories nationwide.
As a result, the ship has the privilege of flying the Navy secretary’s flag for one year and gets a $20,000 award.
The Department of Defense has been pushing for conservation measures for years. Navy and Marine Corps shore facilities have slashed energy use by nearly 26 percent overall since 1985.
Since then, those facilities have saved more than $500 million in energy costs through both technological advances and improved operating procedures. In 1997, the Navy scrubbed a deployment of one Everett ship, the USS Chandler, to save fuel.
The Fife’s skipper during the energy saving activities was Cmdr. Steve Huber.
The ship’s company took an aggressive stance, assigning several teams consisting of an officer and two enlisted people to monitor energy-saving progress.
Among many other things, the ship trained personnel to watch for efficiencies, turned off nonessential equipment, inspected the hull to remove sea growth that could increase drag and kept equipment maintained for efficiently.
Awards also were bestowed on one larger ship, several shore stations and a flight squadron.
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