Remove wrinkles from head of cabin boy in ship (8)
I believe the answer is:
ironclad
'ship' is the definition.
(19th century armoured warship)
'remove wrinkles from head of cabin boy' is the wordplay.
'remove wrinkles from' becomes 'iron'.
'head of' suggests taking the first letters.
'boy' becomes 'lad' (lad is a kind of boy).
The initial letter of 'cabin' is 'c'.
'iron'+'c'+'lad'='IRONCLAD'
'in' is the link.
(Other definitions for ironclad that I've seen before include "19th-century warship" , "Old armoured warship" , "Absolutely determined" , "Well armoured - perhaps an alibi?" , "Old cairn with metal protection" .)