Old soldier who rebuilt a ship (5)

I believe the answer is:

spahi

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'old soldier' is the definition.
Both the answer and definition are singular nouns.
Maybe there's a link between them I don't understand?

'rebuilt a ship' is the wordplay.
'rebuilt' indicates an anagram.
'a'+'ship'='aship'
'aship' anagrammed gives 'SPAHI'.

'who' is the link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for spahi that I've seen before include "Turkish cavalryman" , "old Turkish soldier -" .)

I've seen this clue in the Evening Standard.

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