This was followed by others, of varying displacement between the 15 and the 90 t, built to order or captured by smugglers and pirates, and normally located in Massaua and then, with the extension of the Italian protectorate to the northern coast of Migiurtinia, to Bender Ziada.
Of poor fish (from m 0,7 am 2,2), robust and maneuvering, were armed with one or two small cannons from 25 or 37 mm or with a combination of both.
Since the establishment of the service in 1902, initially on four units (Antilope, Cervo, Gazzella, Zebra), gathered in squadrons under the command of a lieutenant, each elder was normally under the command of a 1st class helmsman assisted by a sub-chief and by two, three white gunners, while the rest of the crew was made up of natives with a nakuda (master) for graduation. In all, the crew of these sui generis units of the Regia Marina ranged (apart from the 10 men of the first Gazzella) from 18 to 28 people.
The elders were used successfully until 1914, always carrying out a profitable and precious surveillance and surveillance service. [The elder or dhow (from the Arabic daw), small tartana, is a traditional Arab sailing boat with one or two masts Latinas. It is typical of the coasts of the Arabian Peninsula, India and the Swahili peoples of East Africa]
Source: Military Navy
