HMS Exeter was a 70-gun third rate ship of the line of the Kingdom of England, built by contract Sir Henry Johnson at Blackwall under the 1677 Construction Programme.

She was the first vessel to bear the name Exeter in the English and Royal Navy.

[1] She was ordered on 20 February 1678 to be built under contract by Sir Henry Johnson of Blackwall on the River Thames.

[2][3] HMS Exeter was commissioned on 8 June 1679 under the command of Captain John Perryman for delivery to Chatham.

She fought in the Battle of Beachy Head in Rear (Blue) Squadron on 30 June 1690.