HMS Fanfan was built by Anthony Deane during his tenure as the Master Shipwright at Harwich Dockyard under the 1665 Programme..

While the vessel was commissioned as a sixth rate, she was actually a yacht built for Prince Rupert and allegedly named after the pet-name of one of his lady friends.

[3] A saker or sacar was a muzzle-loading smoothbore gun of 1,400 pounds in weight with a 3+1⁄2-inch bore firing a 5+1⁄2-pound shot with a 5+1⁄2-pound powder charge.

[5] A minion cannon was a muzzle-loading smoothbore 1,000-pound gun with a 3+1⁄2-inch bore firing a 4-inch shot with a 4-pound powder charge.

In action on 25 July as a member of the Red Squadron under Albemarle and Prince Rupert, she was involved in the chase of de Ruyter's Fleet following the St James's Day Fight, also known as the Battle of Oxfordness.

Between the 9th and 10 August, his attack on the River Vlie on the Dutch coast would become known as Sir Robert Holmes' Bonfire.

Captain Andrew Cotton, RN was her commander from 1 July 1680 until 31 December 1681 and was based at Guernsey.