{"id":56521,"date":"2024-07-14T18:50:43","date_gmt":"2024-07-14T16:50:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/?p=56521"},"modified":"2025-07-14T01:10:10","modified_gmt":"2025-07-13T23:10:10","slug":"a-documentary-that-shows-in-detail-the-spherical-turrets-of-the-b-17-bombers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/2024\/07\/14\/a-documentary-that-shows-in-detail-the-spherical-turrets-of-the-b-17-bombers\/","title":{"rendered":"A documentary that shows in detail the spherical turrets of the B-17 bombers"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress was one of the most famous bombers of World War II, with 12,677 units built.<\/p>\n

An excellent documentary shows the inside of the B-17 Flying Fortress bomber<\/a><\/rel>
\nMaynard H. Smith: The heroic act of the ball turret gunner of a B-17 bomber<\/a><\/rel><\/p>\n

Starting in July 1940, the B-17E variant of this bomber introduced a spherical turret in its lower part<\/strong>, also known as a ball turret or Sperry turret, as it was designed by the Sperry Corporation company. from Brooklyn, New York. This turret was equipped with two 12.7 mm Browning AN\/M2 machine guns<\/strong>, located on both sides of the turret. The gunner was sitting in an uncomfortable fetal position, which required a pulley system to be installed to load the machine guns.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n
A Sperry ball turret from a B-17 bomber (source: This Day in Aviation<\/a>).<\/div>\n

This position was especially dangerous and its gunner was the only B-17 crew member who was not wearing a parachute<\/strong>, as space inside the turret was very limited. The turret was especially expensive because it had a very advanced computerized aiming system for its time<\/strong>, which made calculations to offer the best firing solution at all times. The turret could be rotated 360\u00ba and its machine guns could lower to a position perpendicular to the fuselage of the plane<\/strong>, but the turret had to be placed in a position of 85\u00ba and locked for landing.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n
Maynard H. Smith, B-17F ball turret gunner who received the Medal of Honor (source: HistoryNet<\/a>).<\/div>\n

There was a ball turret gunner who received the Medal of Honor<\/strong>, the United States' highest military decoration. He was Maynard Harrison \"Snuffy\" Smith and we already saw his story here.<\/a> As a curiosity, short gunners were chosen for the positions of these turrets, since the taller ones could not fit in her. A few days ago, Blue Paw Print<\/a> published an excellent video showing the structure and operation of these turrets<\/strong>, with high quality images and a wide range of information. The video has an audio track in English:<\/p>\n