Rough reportedly served on ship (6)
I believe the answer is:
crewed
'served on ship' is the definition.
(was part of a ship's crew)
'rough reportedly' is the wordplay.
'rough' becomes 'crude' (similar in meaning).
'reportedly' indicates a 'sounds like' (homophone) clue.
'crude' sounds like 'CREWED'.
(Other definitions for crewed that I've seen before include "Had workers" , "Worked on ship; sounds like rough" .)