Crossword Genius

Seasoned fighter's craft (3-2-3)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

man-of-war

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'craft' is the definition.
(man-of-war is a kind of craft)

'seasoned fighter's' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'fighter' could be 'f' (abbreviation in war plane e.g. F-16 etc.) and 'f' is found in the answer.
The remaining letters 'manowar' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't understand.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for man-of-war that I've seen before include "Old naval ship" , "A battleship - for a fighter?" , "Fighting ship" , "Armed sailing ship" , "Portuguese --, jellyfish" .)

I've seen this clue in The Guardian.
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