Mischief-makers take up temporary accommodation aboard ship (6)
I believe the answer is:
scamps
'mischief-makers' is the definition.
(I know this)
'temporary accommodation aboard ship' is the wordplay.
'temporary accommodation' becomes 'camp' (people stay in a camp temporarily).
'aboard' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'ship' becomes 'SS' (prefix in ship names eg SS Great Britain).
'camp' placed inside 'ss' is 'SCAMPS'.
'take up' acts as a link.
This may not be right. Some or all of it may belong to another bit of the clue.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for scamps that I've seen before include "Lively children" , "Little rascals, mischievous children" , "Mischevious young children" , "Scallywags" , "Naughty little rascals" .)