Ball turret

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.

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 Liberator 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 light-barrel Browning AN/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 gunner's 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 was the bow installation in the Navy's Consolidated PB4Y-1 Liberator and PB4Y-2 Privateer airplanes. It served a double purpose, taking care of any bow attacks on the Liberator as well as being used for strafing in anti-submarine warfare. Since 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.

Popular culture

 * A ball turret features in the poem "The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner", by Randall Jarrell.
 * The father of T.S. Garp, the main protagonist in John Irving's fourth novel The World According to Garp (1978), is a severely injured ball turret gunner.
 * In "The Mission," a 1985 episode of the television series Amazing Stories, a young ball turret gunner is trapped in his turret until his skill as a cartoonist saves him.
 * Video games such as Call of Duty 2: Big Red One, Secret Weapons Over Normandy, and Blazing Angels: Squadrons of WWII) have the player manning a ball turret, typically in brief sequences to provide gameplay variety.