Pursuing rear of ship, with hesitation (5)
I believe the answer is:
after
'pursuing' is the definition.
(if you're pursuing something you're after it)
'rear of ship with hesitation' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'rear' could be 'aft' (I've seen this in another clue) and 'aft' is found in the answer.
'hesitation' could be 'er' (sound made while hesitating - um, er) and 'er' is located in the answer.
No letters remain.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for after that I've seen before include "Post, later than" , "Looking for" , "Chasing" , "Subsequently" , "Pursuing" .)