Elco 10, an 80-foot motor boat, was built in 1917 by the Elco Company of Bayonne, New Jersey, for the Italian Government as an anti-submarine motor launch ("motoscafi antisommergibili", or "MAS",). In April 1917, soon after the United States entered World War I, she was taken over by the U.S. Navy and placed in service as Elco 10 (with no SP or ID number assigned). Delivered to the Italians in December of that year, she entered Italian Navy service in June 1918 as either MAS-77 or MAS-78.
Photographed in 1917, probably when first completed.
U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.
See:
http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/sh-civil/civsh-e/elco10.htm
