Gun woman in 1588 fleet (6)
I believe the answer is:
armada
'fleet' is the definition.
(I know that armada is a type of fleet)
'gun woman' is the wordplay.
'gun' becomes 'arm' (I've seen this in other clues).
'woman' becomes 'Ada' (woman's name).
'arm'+'ada'='ARMADA'
'in 1588' acts as a link.
I am not very happy about this link. Some or all of it may be part of another bit of the clue.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for armada that I've seen before include "Old Spanish fleet" , "group of ships" , "sea-borne unit" , "Large Spanish fleet" , "A great fleet of warships" .)