Soldier meets queen on board hired ship (9)
I believe the answer is:
privateer
'ship' is the definition.
(privateer is a kind of ship)
'soldier meets queen on' is the wordplay.
'soldier' becomes 'private' (private is a type of soldier).
'meets' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'queen on' becomes 'er' (abbreviation for Elizabeth Regina. I am not sure about the 'on' bit.).
'private'+'er'='PRIVATEER'
'board hired' is the link.
This may not be correct. Some or all of it may belong to another bit of the clue.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for privateer that I've seen before include "Armed ship used in war but not government-owned" , "Privately-owned warship" , "Armed non-government vessel commissioned for war" , "Armed ship not owned by a government" , "Pare rivet down for a ship authorised to make war" .)