Being a skilled worker, Lewis commandeers basic boat before him? (9)
I believe the answer is:
craftsman
'being a skilled worker lewis commandeers basic boat before him?' is the definition.
The answer is a person as well as being a singular noun. This is suggested by the definition.
'basic boat before him?' is the wordplay.
'basic boat' becomes 'crafts' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should believe this answer much more).
'before' says to put letters next to each other.
'him?' becomes 'Man'.
'crafts'+'man'='CRAFTSMAN'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for craftsman that I've seen before include "Artisan" , "Carpenter, say" , "Expert" , "Skilled worker" .)