
Otherwise, the thing started and stayed with three bladed props throughout WWII. However--again from some reading--there were originally 3-bladed elliptical props which then changed to 3-bladed paddle props. In 1/700 scale, this detail should not be much of a concern, but you can be aware of it.
US carrier trials began in 1942, where a number of problems immediately became apparent which caused the Navy to initially relegate it to the Marines, who were primarily land based. However, the Navy did not just give up on it, and work began to correct the issues. The Royal Navy especially developed some special landing techniques which overcame enough of the problems that they had it in carrier service in 1943. The US Navy, though, waited until physical mechanical corrections had been made, thus only putting the planes into regular operational carrier use in later 1944.
In 1942 and 1943, the Navy and Marines were both "very keen" to replace the Wildcat. There were then high hopes for the Corsair in '42, but bouncy landing gear, "isane" engine torque, poor frontal visibility, and a tendancy for the starboard wing to stall before the port one made it very difficult (but not impossible) to use on a carrier. The Marines immediately took the plane anyway, since they did very little routine carrier work, as noted. However, the Hellcat had more stable and forgiving carrier handling with the same engine as the Corsair. So, the Navy went with that. By later 1944, the mentioned mechanical issues had been corrected, and the Royal Navy (and infrequently, the USMC) had shown for the prior year that it could be used on a carrier. The Navy then moved to adopt it, but logistical issues caused them to limit the numbers they obtained. Stocking both Hellcat and Corsair spare parts en-masse was not desireable. It excelled at enough jobs that the Navy did want it, but by then, the Hellcat logistics pipeline was robust, and not readily just dropped. The Navy then put the Corsair in limited use in the late war. Not a huge number of squadrons, with not many seeing actual operational use. It was then mostly a USMC plane for most of war, and they rarely took it aboard a carrier.
1) Three bladed prop introduced--with the aircraft itself--onto USN decks in regular Navy service in later 1944.
2) When flown by USMC squadrons, it was flown by Marines. When flown by US Navy squadrons, it was flown by naval aviators. The Marines were first to employ it operationally, and mostly from land bases (to the point of stripping off tail hooks and folding wing gear to save weight.) However, there were notable instances of several USMC squadrons restoring the carrier gear, and operating temporarily aboard carriers in 1943. Pappy Boyington's Black Sheep did this for one operation, using a couple US Navy carriers as refueling points on one long range bombing operation. That is but one example. These things were not permanent. The Marines remained based ashore, only coming aboard for short durations, and specific missions. USMC planes did not have "Marines" written on the side of them any more than "US Navy" was written on their planes. Aircraft markings over the course of the war fill volumes.
3) 4-bladed props, as noted, first sppeared in April, 1944 on the F4U-4 version. I have not read whether they then saw any operational service, though I am pretty certain they'd have been aboard some carrier somewhere simply to test their carrier suitability.
The topic is complex. This is the broad situation. If you're looking for specific instances, you'll need to refine your questions.
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Multi part question here concerning F4U s upon carrier decks
1. When was the 3 bladed propellor F4U introduced to carrier decks during the war?
2. Who flew the aircraft ? USN aviators or Marine aviators and if Marine aviators were there “Marines” insignia upon their aircraft as we see after war?
3. When was the 4 bladed propellor F4U introduced upon WW2 carrier decks?
Any help will be greatly appreciated.
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