The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 6 letter word ARMADA
I've seen this crossword clue in The Times
A
R
M
A
D
A
More clues leading to the result ARMADA
- Fleet Street shunned by celebrity married lady.
- Fleet, very angry, taking over third of area
- Some characters in Gibraltar mad about Spanish ships
- Swear Madagascar is concealing fleet
- The Spanish force maiden into a British academy
- Naval force represented by rising male artist
- Invasion force mass inside a drama school
- Naval force heading for Aden — not all there captured by artist
- Navy member — nothing without leader
- Ships seized by war-mad admiral?
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "Ships" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case ships = armada.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.
What does ARMADA mean?
ARMADA noun- A fleet of warships, especially with reference to the Spanish Armada.
- Any large army or fleet of military vessels.
- A large flock of anything.