Sailor one caught in engagement to surrender (8)
I believe the answer is:
abdicate
'surrender' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'sailor one caught in engagement' is the wordplay.
'sailor' becomes 'ab' (abbreviation for able seaman).
'one' becomes 'i' (Roman numeral).
'caught' becomes 'c' (cricket abbreviation**).
'in' is an insertion indicator.
'engagement' becomes 'date' ('date' can be a synonym of 'engagement').
'i'+'c'='ic'
'ic' going within 'date' is 'dicate'.
'ab'+'dicate'='ABDICATE'
'to' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for abdicate that I've seen before include "step down" , "surrender" , "Vacate the throne voluntarily" , "Abandon" , "Leave throne" .)