Remove wrinkles from head of cabin boy in old ship (8)
I believe the answer is:
ironclad
'old ship' is the definition.
'ironclad' can be an answer for 'ship' (19th century armoured warship). I am not certain of the 'old' bit.
'remove wrinkles from head of cabin boy' is the wordplay.
'remove wrinkles from' becomes 'iron' (I've seen this in another clue).
'head of' says to take the initial letters.
'boy' becomes 'lad' (informal term for boy).
The first letter of 'cabin' is 'c'.
'iron'+'c'+'lad'='IRONCLAD'
'in' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for ironclad that I've seen before include "Well protected, like armoured alibi" , "Absolutely determined" , "Early armoured warship" , "Protected as by armour - say an alibi" , "Unassailable" .)