The Zia Lalla is a Dutch-designed minesweeper from the early twentieth century that belonged to the Austro-Hungarian Empire until 1918. The vessel's task during the years of the Great War was to protect the Gulf of Trieste by placing mines anti-ship in the waters in front of the city, at the time held under the foreign yoke.
After the war, Italy obtained numerous military vehicles and goods from Austria as compensation for the damage caused by the war, including the famous Zia Lalla. The ship thus began to go from port to port, passing through Venice, where it was used as a factory boat, and on the Po, where it was used with little success as a tow vessel.
Only in 1991, almost one hundred years after the "baptism of the sea", Zia Lalla IV entered the fresh waters of Garda. For a paltry price, six million lire (the cost per weight of the iron), the minesweeper was purchased by the Lombard entrepreneur and politician of An Pier Gianni Prosperini.
From 1991 to 2009 the vessel remained in the port of Desenzano where the property carried out various renovation repairs.