Give resources to a US lawyer -- one needs to keep afloat (6)

I believe the answer is:

armada

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'one needs to keep afloat' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this defines the answer.

'give resources to a us lawyer' is the wordplay.
'give resources' becomes 'arm' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should believe this answer much more).
'us lawyer' becomes 'da' (abbreviation for District Attorney).
'arm'+'a'+'da'='ARMADA'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for armada that I've seen before include "Many ships" , "sea-borne unit" , "A great fleet - Spain had one" , "Large number of ships (Spanish?)" , "Fleet of armed ships" .)

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.

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