Run away from the first ships (5)
I believe the answer is:
fleet
'ships' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'run away from the first' is the wordplay.
'run away from' becomes 'flee' (I've seen this before).
'the first' becomes 't' (1st letter of 'the').
'flee'+'t'='FLEET'
(Other definitions for fleet that I've seen before include "Ships - quick!" , "group of taxis, for example" , "Squadron" , "task force" , "fast is observed" .)