Ball turret
Encyclopedia
A ball turret was a particular form of spherical-form, altazimuth mount
movement manned aircraft gun turret
, accommodating the gunner with nearly all the needed equipment for defensive firepower (except for the ammunition storage) mounted either within or onto the spherical shell of the turret structure, mounted on aircraft during World War II. The most common one was manufactured by the Sperry Corporation
.
as well as the United States Navy's Liberator, the PB4Y. The Sperry ball turret was very small in order to reduce drag, and was typically operated by the shortest man of the crew. To enter the turret, the turret was moved until the guns were pointed straight down. The gunner placed his feet in the heel rests and then crouched down into a fetal position. He would then put on a safety strap, close and lock the turret door. The gunner sat in the turret with his back and head against the rear wall, his hips at the bottom, and his legs held in mid-air by two footrests on the front wall. This left him positioned with his eyes roughly level with the pair of Browning M2 .50 caliber machine guns which extended through the entire turret, and located to either side of the gunner. The cocking handles were located too close to the gunner to be operated easily, so a cable was attached to the handle through pulleys to a handle near the front of the turret. Small ammo boxes rested on the top of the turret and the remaining ammo belts were stowed in the already cramped turret by means of an elaborate feed chute system. A reflector sight
was hung from the top of the turret, positioned roughly between the gunners feet.
The turret was directed by two hand control grips with firing buttons similar to a one-button joy stick. Hydraulics normally powered elevation and azimuth. Hand cranks were available for backup. The left foot was used to control the reflector sight range reticle. The right foot operated a push to talk intercom switch.
On the B-17 the turret was close to the ground, but had enough clearance for takeoff and landing. However, the gunner did not enter the turret until well into the air, in case of landing gear failure. In the case of the B-24 the LIberator's tricycle landing gear design required that the turret mount be made upwardly retractable into the lower fuselage while the aircraft was on the ground, since with the ball turret deployed for operation, the shell of the turret would be too close to the ground. For both aircraft types, there was no room inside for a parachute, which was left in the cabin above the turret. A few gunners wore a chest parachute.
and PB4Y-2 Privateer airplanes. It served a double purpose in taking care of any bow attacks on the Liberator besides being used for strafing in anti-submarine warfare. Inasmuch as this turret is of the ball type, the gunner moves with his guns and sight in elevation and azimuth as he moves his control handles. It is a relative of the Martin 250SH Bow Turret of the PBM-3
twin-engined patrol flying boat and has many points of similarity in design and action.
Altazimuth mount
An altazimuth or alt-azimuth mount is a simple two-axis mount for supporting and rotating an instrument about two mutually perpendicular axes; one vertical and the other horizontal. Rotation about the vertical axis varies the azimuth of the pointing direction of the instrument...
movement manned aircraft gun turret
Gun turret
A gun turret is a weapon mount that protects the crew or mechanism of a projectile-firing weapon and at the same time lets the weapon be aimed and fired in many directions.The turret is also a rotating weapon platform...
, accommodating the gunner with nearly all the needed equipment for defensive firepower (except for the ammunition storage) mounted either within or onto the spherical shell of the turret structure, mounted on aircraft during World War II. The most common one was manufactured by the Sperry Corporation
Sperry Corporation
Sperry Corporation was a major American equipment and electronics company whose existence spanned more than seven decades of the twentieth century...
.
Sperry Ball Turret
The Sperry ball turret, meant for ventral defense needs on aircraft, was used on both the B-17 Flying Fortress and the B-24 LiberatorB-24 Liberator
The Consolidated B-24 Liberator was an American heavy bomber, designed by Consolidated Aircraft of San Diego, California. It was known within the company as the Model 32, and a small number of early models were sold under the name LB-30, for Land Bomber...
as well as the United States Navy's Liberator, the PB4Y. The Sperry ball turret was very small in order to reduce drag, and was typically operated by the shortest man of the crew. To enter the turret, the turret was moved until the guns were pointed straight down. The gunner placed his feet in the heel rests and then crouched down into a fetal position. He would then put on a safety strap, close and lock the turret door. The gunner sat in the turret with his back and head against the rear wall, his hips at the bottom, and his legs held in mid-air by two footrests on the front wall. This left him positioned with his eyes roughly level with the pair of Browning M2 .50 caliber machine guns which extended through the entire turret, and located to either side of the gunner. The cocking handles were located too close to the gunner to be operated easily, so a cable was attached to the handle through pulleys to a handle near the front of the turret. Small ammo boxes rested on the top of the turret and the remaining ammo belts were stowed in the already cramped turret by means of an elaborate feed chute system. A reflector sight
Reflector sight
A reflector or reflex sight is a generally non-magnifying optical device that allows the user to look through a partially reflecting glass element and see an illuminated projection of an aiming point or some other image superimposed on the field of view...
was hung from the top of the turret, positioned roughly between the gunners feet.
The turret was directed by two hand control grips with firing buttons similar to a one-button joy stick. Hydraulics normally powered elevation and azimuth. Hand cranks were available for backup. The left foot was used to control the reflector sight range reticle. The right foot operated a push to talk intercom switch.
On the B-17 the turret was close to the ground, but had enough clearance for takeoff and landing. However, the gunner did not enter the turret until well into the air, in case of landing gear failure. In the case of the B-24 the LIberator's tricycle landing gear design required that the turret mount be made upwardly retractable into the lower fuselage while the aircraft was on the ground, since with the ball turret deployed for operation, the shell of the turret would be too close to the ground. For both aircraft types, there was no room inside for a parachute, which was left in the cabin above the turret. A few gunners wore a chest parachute.
Erco Ball Turret
The Erco Ball Turret is the bow installation in the Navy's Consolidated PB4Y-1 LiberatorB-24 Liberator
The Consolidated B-24 Liberator was an American heavy bomber, designed by Consolidated Aircraft of San Diego, California. It was known within the company as the Model 32, and a small number of early models were sold under the name LB-30, for Land Bomber...
and PB4Y-2 Privateer airplanes. It served a double purpose in taking care of any bow attacks on the Liberator besides being used for strafing in anti-submarine warfare. Inasmuch as this turret is of the ball type, the gunner moves with his guns and sight in elevation and azimuth as he moves his control handles. It is a relative of the Martin 250SH Bow Turret of the PBM-3
PBM Mariner
The Martin PBM Mariner was a patrol bomber flying boat of World War II and the early Cold War period. It was designed to complement the PBY Catalina in service. A total of 1,366 were built, with the first example flying on 18 February 1939 and the type entering service in September 1940.-Design and...
twin-engined patrol flying boat and has many points of similarity in design and action.
Popular culture
- A ball turret features in the poem "The Death of the Ball Turret GunnerThe Death of the Ball Turret GunnerThe Death of the Ball Turret Gunner is a five-line poem by Randall Jarrell published in 1945. It is about the death of a gunner in a Sperry ball turret on a World War II American bomber aircraft.From my mother's sleep I fell into the State,...
", by Randall JarrellRandall JarrellRandall Jarrell was an American poet, literary critic, children's author, essayist, and novelist. He was the 11th Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress, a role which now holds the title of US Poet Laureate.-Life:Jarrell was a native of Nashville, Tennessee...
. - The father of T.S. Garp, the main protagonist in John Irving'sJohn IrvingJohn Winslow Irving is an American novelist and Academy Award-winning screenwriter.Irving achieved critical and popular acclaim after the international success of The World According to Garp in 1978...
fourth novel The World According to GarpThe World According to GarpThe World According to Garp is John Irving's fourth novel. Published in 1978, the book was a bestseller for several years.A movie adaptation of the novel starring Robin Williams was released in 1982, with a screenplay written by Steve Tesich....
(1978), is a severely injured ball turret gunner. - In "The Mission," an episode of Amazing Stories (TV series)Amazing Stories (TV series)Amazing Stories is a fantasy, horror, and science fiction television anthology series created by Steven Spielberg. It ran on NBC from 1985 to 1987, and was somewhat erratically screened in Britain by BBC1 and BBC2 - billed in the Radio Times as "Steven Spielberg's Amazing Stories" - with episodes...
from 1985, a young ball turret gunner is trapped in his turret until his skill as a cartoonist saves the day. - Video games such as Call of Duty 2: Big Red OneCall of Duty 2: Big Red OneCall of Duty 2: Big Red One is a World War II video game for the Nintendo GameCube, PlayStation 2, and Xbox and acts as a spin-off of Call of Duty 2. It was released on November 1, 2005, in North America...
, Secret Weapons Over NormandySecret Weapons Over NormandySecret Weapons Over Normandy or is a World War II-based arcade flight simulation video game released on November 18, 2003. Published by LucasArts and developed by Totally Games, the game is composed of 15 objective-based missions set in 1940s European, North African, and the Pacific theatres of war...
, and Blazing Angels: Squadrons of WWIIBlazing Angels: Squadrons of WWII-Restrictions:The PC version is not suitable for use on some laptops. Attempting to play the game on laptops can result in a large black circle appearing in the middle of the screen.- See also :*Secret Weapons Over Normandy - The game that inspired Blazing Angels....
) have the player manning a ball turret, typically in brief sequences to provide gameplay variety.