Coarsest sort of ships? (8)
I believe the answer is:
coasters
'ships?' is the definition.
The definition and answer can be both man-made objects as well as being plural nouns.
Perhaps there's a link between them I don't understand?
'coarsest sort' is the wordplay.
'sort' indicates an anagram.
'coarsest' is an anagram of 'COASTERS'.
'of' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for coasters that I've seen before include "Small mats for Socrates" , "Merchant ships with a limited range of operation" , "Small table-mats" .)