Second in command at sea briefly returns for a little scrap that brings a charge (3)
I believe the answer is:
ion
'a little scrap that brings a charge' is the definition.
(ions are electrically charged)
'second in command at sea briefly returns' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
'at' could be 'on' (location) and 'on' is found within the answer.
A single letter 'i' remains which might be clued in a way I don't understand.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
'for' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for ion that I've seen before include "Electrically charged particle" , "Subatomic particle" , "Charged atom/molecule" , "Particle (phys.)" , "Electrically-charged particle" .)