Like the title says, this one is a bit OT however not entirely I believe and I'll explain why:
Currently I'm playing a "stock" DCG US Navy pilot campaign in my IL2 1946 4.12.2m + ModAct installation (I'm currently in Guadalcanal 1943) and recently I installed a SB2C Helldiver mod pack (in my 4.12.2m + ModAct installation), a very well done and excellent mod aircraft by the way!
I do know when initial version the SB2C-1C entered in combat. It was in November 1943 over Rabaul and it also saw combat during the same month over Tarawa as well. The next variant of the pack, the SB2C-3 entered in service in the beginning of 1944 and saw extensive combat by mid 1944 where for example it was used in combat over the Marianas (June 1944).

But what I can't find is this kind of information regarding the SB2C-4 version. I searched extensively over the web but I didn't find any "conclusive" information on this regard. The only thing that I did find about the SB2C-4 version is that it appeared (I assume started to enter in service) in mid 1944 but one thing is to start entering in service and another completely different thing is to see first combat. And this is what I would like to know, when did the SB2C-4 first saw combat?


The logic of my question is to know how soon can I start to use the SB2C-4 in my DCG US Navy pilot grand campaign and of course doing it in a realistic/historical way. Using the SB2C-4 has of course a big advantage over the previous SB2C-3 since the former can carry rockets together with the bomb load carried by earlier variants (for example the SB2C-3 can carry 4x500lb bombs while the SB2C-4 can carry the same 4x500lb bombs plus 8 rockets).


Thanks in advance for any replies...

No one??

Bump!

Second Bump!

I have been looking but I am not finding anything either.


Wheels

Humm ok. Thanks for the reply anyway

The only info I can find is the Summer of 1944.

First of all, thanks for the reply Sapper.

I've seen that info before too. However I think that info seems to be (I could be wrong thou) related to when first manufactured SB2C-4s reached the first squadrons which isn't the same as the first time that the SB2C-4s saw combat/action.
This makes sense because it takes time for enough numbers of the new model of the aircraft to reach the squadrons, time for the pilots and ground crew to get acquainted with the new aircraft/model (training/conversion) and of course the time that it takes to actually deploy the squadrons with the new aircraft to the frontline (and from there to actually see combat for the first time).
For example the previous SB2C-3 version seems to have been introduced for the first time in the beginning of 1944 but apparently only saw combat by mid 1944 (perhaps for the first time in the Marianas).

So with the example above it appears that there's a considerable number of months that takes between the first time that an aircraft reaches the squadrons and the first time that same aircraft actually sees combat for the first time.