Ships not completing first gear change (8)
I believe the answer is:
frigates
'ships' is the definition.
(frigate is a kind of ship)
'not completing first gear change' is the wordplay.
'not completing' means to remove the last letter.
'change' is an anagram indicator.
'first'+'gear'='firstgear'
'firstgear' with its final letter taken away is 'firstgea'.
'firstgea' is an anagram of 'FRIGATES'.
(Other definitions for frigates that I've seen before include "Class of warships" , "boats" , "Ships" .)