Its tone could become a midshipman (7)

I believe the answer is:

snottie

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'a midshipman' is the definition.
I don't know anything about this answer so I can't judge whether this works.

'its tone could become' is the wordplay.
'could become' indicates an anagram.
'its'+'tone'='itstone'
'itstone' is an anagram of 'SNOTTIE'.

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I've seen this clue in the Sydney Morning Herald.

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