Cannot set boolean variable from another script

I have code that makes an object rotate, and its working ok if I call it from within the script.

ScriptA

 public class ship : MonoBehaviour {
 private bool toRotate=false;

     public void enemyRotate()
    {
           toRotate = true;
           Debug.Log("er "+ toRotate);
     }

  void Update () {
  if (toRotate)
         {

             transform.RotateAround(player.transform.position, Vector3.forward, 100 * Time.deltaTime);
         }

}

If I call enemyRotate from within scriptA, sure enough I get the rotation, and the debug log shows the variable has been set to true. But if I call it from another function like this:

Script B

   public class Projectile : MonoBehaviour {
       public ship ship_object;
 
       void Start(){
       
       ship_object=gameObject.AddComponent<kanaship> ();
       }

       void callFunction(){
       
       ship_object.enemyRotate()
       }

  }

If I call it from callFunction, I get the Debug log saying the variable has been set to true, BUT the rotation animation is not working at all. I have tried different variants of this but cannot figure out what Im doing wrong. I have even used a public bool and tried to set that to true from another script but nothing. Help?