Hudson turret field of fire

[haptad]

Hi all. Just doing some historical research and have gone down a rabbit hole. I believe the only guns fitted to the Hudsons used by the Special Duties squadrons (161 and 138) were in the turret. Could these fire downwards to the rear and sides to any degree in level flight, or would the aircraft have to bank? If anyone can point me to detailed information on the fitout of these SD aircraft or the experience of flying in them as crew, I'd be most grateful.

 

[Wurger]

Hi all. Just doing some historical research and have gone down a rabbit hole. I believe the only guns fitted to the Hudsons used by the Special Duties squadrons (161 and 138) were in the turret. Could these fire downwards to the rear and sides to any degree in level flight, or would the aircraft have to bank? If anyone can point me to detailed information on the fitout of these SD aircraft or the experience of flying in them as crew, I'd be most grateful.

Welcome to the site ...

If you mean the Boulton Paul Type C Mk.II dorsal turret also used for the Halifax , the field of fire was : the azimuth 360°, the elevation 60° and the depression 45°. So.. judging the data it was possible to fire downwards to the rear and sides.

the pic source: the net.

 

[GrauGeist]

The Hudson III of 161 Sqd. had a ventral gun position in addition to the nose and upper turret.
As far as I've seen, No. 138 Sqd. never operated Lockheed Hudsons.

 

[fubar57]

Right you are Dave. I'll post a list of squadrons that did in a bit.

Edit: screw it....let Wiki do it..... Lockheed Hudson - Wikipedia

 

[haptad]

The Hudson III of 161 Sqd. had a ventral gun position in addition to the nose and upper turret.
As far as I've seen, No. 138 Sqd. never operated Lockheed Hudsons.

Welcome to the site ...

If you mean the Boulton Paul Type C Mk.II dorsal turret also used for the Halifax , the field of fire was : the azimuth 360°, the elevation 60° and the depression 45°. So.. judging the data it was possible to fire downwards to the rear and sides.

View attachment 805735
the pic source: the net.

Thanks!

 

[haptad]

The Hudson III of 161 Sqd. had a ventral gun position in addition to the nose and upper turret.
As far as I've seen, No. 138 Sqd. never operated Lockheed Hudsons.

I expect you're right about it only being 161, which did the agent pick-ups and landings. I've read there were only two of them at RAF Tempsford anyway (one being the King's former transport?). I haven't seen a pic of one with a ventral gun (eg ROYAL AIR FORCE BOMBER COMMAND, 1942-1945. or Nödlandare från Storbritannien - Lockheed Hudson Mk.III, T9439) (Edit: just read it was retractable anyway, so I guess I wouldn't have seen it!). I think the fitters took most of the guns out of the SD planes (eg I've read the Halifax only had rear guns) due to the nature of their work and the smaller crews. So the Hudson crew was just pilot, navigator, wireless operator/despatcher and one air gunner. But I'm sure lots of things changed over the course of the operations (I'm focused on 1943 specifically).