Wisecrack aboard English ship (3-5)
I believe the answer is:
one-liner
'wisecrack' is the definition.
(both can mean a joke)
'aboard english ship' is the wordplay.
'aboard' becomes 'on'.
'english' becomes 'e' (abbreviation).
'ship' becomes 'liner' (liner is a kind of ship).
'on'+'e'+'liner'='ONE-LINER'
(Other definitions for one-liner that I've seen before include "Witty remark in single short sentence" , "Witty remark contained in a single sentence" , "Pithy joke" , "Quick gag" , "Quick quip?" .)