The remains of a vessel implanted with high explosive
I believe the answer is:
ashes
'the remains' is the definition.
(I've seen this in another clue)
'a vessel implanted with high explosive' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
'a' is found in the answer.
'explosive' could be 'he' (abbreviation for high explosive) and 'he' is located in the answer.
'vessel' could be 'ss' (prefix in ship names eg SS Great Britain) and 'ss' is found within the leftover letters.
This accounts for all the letters.
This may be the basis of clue (or it may be nonsense).
'of' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for ashes that I've seen before include "''... to ..., dust to dust'' (burial service)" , "Eng/Aus test series" , "Test-match trophy" , "Former Wimbledon champion's" , "Cinders - which were once kept in the 3 20 at 18" .)