Fleet Jr.

Fleet Jr. is an early electro-mechanical game released in August 1934 by Bally Manufacturing Corporation, designed by Herbert G. Breitenstein. It was covered by two patents granted to Breitenstein and assigned to Bally founder Raymond T. Moloney - a design patent granted in October 1934 and a game apparatus patent granted in 1937. The game was evidently a major success: Bally president Ray Moloney later recalled that during the hottest summer in years, the company built 500 Fleets a day for three weeks straight.

The machine's gameplay mechanics are distinctive. Seven playfield cannons "fire" the pinball upwards on the playfield, creating a dynamic experience for a pre-flipper game. The largest cannon is actually a tube that does not fire the ball but instead delivers a ball entering its top to the high-scoring "Shell Hole" at the bottom of the playfield. Ten trap holes line the playfield perimeter, including the outhole, and the game accepted either 1-cent or 5-cent play.

Fleet Jr. is the compact companion to Bally's slightly larger 'Fleet Sr.' of the same year, which added two long metal side rails and two more trap holes. Bally advertised the Junior game in two different sizes - 42 by 19 inches and 38 by 18 inches - though at least one surviving example measures 39 by 17 inches, adding a small mystery for collectors and historians to puzzle over.