Helmsman’s male lover follows commanding officer at ten (8)
I believe the answer is:
coxswain
'helmsman's' is the definition.
(coxswain is a kind of helmsman)
'male lover follows commanding officer at ten' is the wordplay.
'male lover' becomes 'swain' (swain is a kind of lover. I am not sure about the 'male' bit.).
'follows' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'commanding officer' becomes 'co'.
'at' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'ten' becomes 'x' (roman numeral).
'co'+'x'='cox'
'swain' put after 'cox' is 'COXSWAIN'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for coxswain that I've seen before include "Person in charge of a lifeboat" , "Lifeboat helmsman" , "Steerer on boat" , "one steers" , "Rowing boat pilot" .)