Provide decorations for a party of sailors? (5)
I believe the answer is:
adorn
'provide' is the definition.
(I know that adorn is a kind of equip)
'party of sailors?' is the wordplay.
'party' becomes 'ad' (I can't explain this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'of' becomes 'o''.
'sailors?' becomes 'RN' (abbreviation for Royal Navy).
'ad'+'o'+'rn'='ADORN'
'decorations for a' acts as a link.
I am not very happy about this link. Some or all of it may belong to another bit of the clue.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for adorn that I've seen before include "Beautify - decorate - enhance" , "Deck" , "Make more attractive" , "Improve appearance" , "Attire" .)