Joke about English passenger ship (3-5)
I believe the answer is:
one-liner
'joke' is the definition.
(I know that one-liner is a type of joke)
'about english passenger ship' is the wordplay.
'about' becomes 'on' (as in a book 'on' a certain topic).
'english' becomes 'E' (abbreviation).
'passenger ship' becomes 'liner' (eg a cruise liner).
'on'+'e'+'liner'='ONE-LINER'
(Other definitions for one-liner that I've seen before include "Pithy joke" , "Witty remark in single short sentence" , "Quick quip?" , "Witty remark contained in a single sentence" , "Terse joke" .)