Crossword Genius

Ship leaves once loaded (3,7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

tea clipper

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

'loaded' is the definition.
I know nothing about this answer so I can't judge whether it can be defined by this definition.

'ship leaves' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'ship' could be 'clipper' (I've seen this before) and 'clipper' is located in the answer.
'leaves' could be 'tea' (as in tea leaves) and 'tea' is present in the answer.
This accounts for all the letters.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

'once' acts as a link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for tea clipper that I've seen before include "Ship transported" , "Fast trading ship" , "mercantile vessel" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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