Clue: Somnolent type to tear open vehicle with seafood (3,3,6)
Answer: RIP VAN WINKLE
Explanation: Definition: Somnolent type
A charade of RIP ('tear open') plus VAN ('vehicle') plus WINKLE ('seafood'). Rip van Winkle is the eponymous central character of a story by Washington Irving, who falls asleep for twenty years, missing the American War of Independence.