Crossword Genius

Claimed, oddly, they'd made about-turn with ship on April first (8)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

asserted

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'claimed oddly' is the definition.
The definition and answer can be both to do with communicating as well as being past participle verbs.
Maybe they are linked in a way I don't understand?

'they'd made about-turn with ship on april first' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
'about' could be 'a' (abbreviation in Chambers) and 'a' is found within the answer.
'turn' could be 't' (abbreviation in Oxford Dictionary of Abbreviations) and 't' is found within the answer.
'ship' could be 'ss' (prefix in ship names eg SS Great Britain) and 'ss' is found within the answer.
'on' could be 're' ('on' can be mean 'with reference to') and 're' is present in the remaining letters.
The remaining letters 'ed' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't understand.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for asserted that I've seen before include "Stated firmly, declared." , "Confidently declared to be so" , "Made firm statement about a dessert" , "Put" .)

I've seen this clue in The Irish Times.
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