Brand of British vessel (4)
I believe the answer is:
burn
'brand' is the definition.
(brand can mean to burn a mark into something)
'british vessel' is the wordplay.
'british' becomes 'b' (abbreviation e.g. in 'BBC').
'vessel' becomes 'urn' (urn is a kind of vessel).
'b'+'urn'='BURN'
'of' is the link.
(Other definitions for burn that I've seen before include "Go up in smoke" , "Scorch; brook" , "be consumed" , "Severely overcook" , "Brand" .)