The Captains Call
S HIPS I NFORMATION T RAINING E NTERTAINMENT
TELEVISION AND TECHNOLOGY ABOARD THE BATTLESHIP NEW JERSEY

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What is a SITE system anyway...?
Did you know that big navy ships today carry television studios? No? Well they do, and as it happens the battleship USS New Jersey was the first! Back in the early nineteen eighties, during the peak of the ‘cold war’, President Ronald Reagan ordered the last of the worlds big battle wagons pressed back into service, and along
with that order came a monumental task of refit and upgrades. On 28 December 1982 President Reagan came aboard the USS New Jersey to re-commission her and return her to sea for the forth time. Along with her went something completely new, something completely unheard of at the time. Now one would think that all of the attention would have been given to the kinds of things expected to be found on a modern warship, like computers, missiles, radars, and all manner of “Star Wars” type stuff, right? No one would ever think of a TV studio right? Not on a warship, right? After all this is a NAVY ship, not a cruise liner, right?  Well, someone did. And not just a room with a couple of VCR’s and a camera, but a full fledged ‘On The Air’ television station. A complete facility providing multiple channels of programming, both live and taped to a crew of thousands who could watch, virtually, from anywhere on the ship.
The Navy calls them SITE systems for Ships Information Training and Entertainment. Chief Petty Officer Mark O. Piggott (CVN 65) explains - "Most SITE systems are operated by Navy Journalists (JO) and maintained by Interior Communications Technicians (IC) with secondary training as a TV tech. On smaller ships, where there are no journalists, IC men both operate and maintain the equipment.

Most SITE TV systems fall under the Public Affairs Office, usually a division of Executive or Administrative Department…Movies and television programming are provided by the Naval Motion Picture Service (NMPS) and The Armed Forces Radio and Television Service (AFRTS).” Actually on the big aircraft carriers today they’re called ‘Super SITE systems.’ Just like a small floating, or one should say ‘moving’ city – when you have five thousand young people raised with TV looking for some diversion, television becomes as much a practical necessity of life as … well radio was sixty years ago. This is as good an argument as any for those ‘older’ guys looking to scoff at the easy life in today’s modern navy. In the winter of 2001 the New Jersey became the subject of yet another monumental task – that of restoring her for her latest mission. The goal for New Jersey this time was to become not just a museum, but also a living working ship again, with a crew and opportunities for people to experience her in as real a way as possible. Hundreds of volunteers from all walks of life, including veterans who sailed on her, returned to bring her back to life. When we stumbled, almost by accident, upon the TV control room
and studio they had been, like so much of the ship, stripped bare with only a few wires left to tell the tale of what had once been there. The photos inset are courtesy of Capt. Walter M. Urban USN (Ret.) and show views of one of the first SITE TV control rooms on another IOWA class battleship, the USS Wisconsin. So in the winter of 2001 another project began, to restore these television systems and put them back to use. Now restoring every area of the ship and its normal functions is an ongoing effort, but this area provided a unique opportunity. Unlike so many of the other systems on a warship the television studio could be completely reactivated. More to the point, kids could use them just as the sailors had on active duty. Today these systems have been fully restored, and approximately 1,200 young people to date, ranging in age from elementary thru University level, have used the Battleship New Jerseys SITE systems.