Troop members caught that man on vessel with US characters (11)

I believe the answer is:

chimpanzees

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'troop members' is the definition.
(troop is the collective noun for chimpanzees)

'caught that man on vessel with us characters' is the wordplay.
'caught' becomes 'c' (cricket abbreviation).
'that man on' becomes 'him' (I can't explain this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'vessel' becomes 'pan' (vessel or container for cooking).
'with' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'us characters' becomes 'zees' (is US English Z is pronounced 'zee').
'c'+'him'+'pan'+'zees'='CHIMPANZEES'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Another definition for chimpanzees that I've seen is " Primates".)

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.

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