Supply bases of French vessels (6)
I believe the answer is:
depots
'supply bases' is the definition.
The definition and answer can be both man-made objects as well as being plural nouns.
Perhaps you can see a link between them that I can't see?
'of french vessels' is the wordplay.
'of french' becomes 'de' ('of' in French).
'vessels' becomes 'pots' (pot is a kind of vessel).
'de'+'pots'='DEPOTS'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for depots that I've seen before include "Storage places" , "HQs" , "Stations where passengers or goods are unloaded" .)