Jack Scott's initial distress given first signs of oceans rising (6)
I believe the answer is:
sailor
'jack' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'scott's initial distress given first signs of oceans rising' is the wordplay.
'initial' indicates taking the first letters.
'distress' becomes 'ail' (ail can mean to trouble or distress).
'given' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'first signs of' says to take the initial letters.
The initial letter of 'scotts' is 's'.
The initial letters of 'oceans rising' is 'or'.
's'+'ail'+'or'='SAILOR'
(Other definitions for sailor that I've seen before include "Jack" , "Tar, AB" , "Matelot" , "Sinbad, for example" , "Person who goes to sea" .)