The V prefix serial numbers started April 1942 at V1 and ended in August 1945 at VS811119. My guess would be that your gun was manufactured and shipped in 1943.
This is not quite correct.
V1 was produced in April 1942, starting a new serial sequence. That sequence lasted all the way to (S)999999, in March 1948.
In December 1944, a new sliding hammer block safety mechanism was added to production and the letter S was added
to the front of the serial number, resulting in SV prefix units. The lowest known number in this era of production is SV732261. Conventional wisdom says the SV prefix began at SV769000, but since assembly was not in serial order, lower numbers do exist.
A unit marked S811120 is generally considered to be the beginning of the simple S prefix guns but, again, exceptions do exist with higher numbers carrying the SV prefix. As for SV811119: I have examined this revolver. The prefix is SV, not VS. It was assembled on August 27, 1945, but it did not ship until March 1, 1946, when postwar civilian shipment began.
There is no evidence whatsoever that the factory ever marked revolvers with a VS prefix. The belief in the VS prefix derives from a misinterpretation of one paragraph in the book
History of Smith & Wesson by Dr. Roy Jinks. That paragraph ends with this sentence: "These revolvers can be identified by the stamped SV prefix." Extensive research has turned up thousands of SV prefix guns and never one single unit with a confirmed factory mark of VS.
For more detailed information on the S and SV units, take a look at p. 206 in the SCSW 5th Edition.