Animal found on a ship (3)
I believe the answer is:
ass
'animal' is the definition.
(term for a donkey)
'on a ship' is the wordplay.
'on' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'ship' becomes 'SS' (prefix in ship names eg SS Great Britain).
'a' put next to 'ss' is 'ASS'.
'found' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for ass that I've seen before include "Animal of horse family" , "Clinton's behind" , "One in Bible spoke" , "Dolt" , "Donkey or foolish person" .)