Fyffe was born in
Champaign County,
Ohio, on 26 July 1832, the son of Edward Pierce Fyffe (1810–1867) and the former Sarah Ann Robinson (1814–1872). He was appointed a
midshipman on 9 September 1847. He was attached first to the bomb
brig in the
Home Squadron from 1847 to 1848, seeing service on
blockade duty off
Mexico during the
Mexican War. His next assignment was to the
sloop-of-war off the coast of
Africa from 1848 to 1850, after which he was back in the Home Squadron during 1852. He attended the
United States Naval Academy in
Annapolis,
Maryland, from 1853 to 1854 and, upon completing his studies, was promoted to
passed midshipman on 15 June 1854. Fyffe was assigned to special service aboard the
screw frigate in 1855, and was promoted to
lieutenant on 16 September 1855. He served aboard the
store ship in the
Brazil Squadron from 1856 to 1857, aboard the sloop-of-war in the
East India Squadron from 1857 to 1859, and on the
steam sloop from 1860 to 1861. After the Civil War, Fyffe performed duty at the
Boston Navy Yard in
Charlestown,
Massachusetts, in 1867 and was promoted to
commander on 2 December 1867. He served aboard the
screw sloop-of-war in the
Asiatic Squadron from 1868 to 1869. He was
commanding officer of the
monitor (known briefly as USS
Centaur in 1869) in the
North Atlantic Fleet from 1869 to 1870, officer-in-charge of the
nitre depot at
Malden, Massachusetts, from 1871 to 1872, and commanding officer of the
sidewheel gunboat in the Asiatic Squadron from 1875 to 1878. As Fyffe approached his mandatory retirement at age 62 on 26 July 1894, he faced the possibility of retiring as a commodore rather than as a rear admiral, as no rear admiral billets were due to become open before that date. Rear Admiral
Joseph S. Skerrett was due to retire upon reaching the age of 62 on 18 January 1895, but in order to make room for Fyffe to be promoted, Skerrett voluntarily requested an earlier retirement based on time in service. Skerrett thus was placed on the retired list early, on 9 July 1894, allowing Fyffe to be promoted to rear admiral on 10 July 1894. Fyffe then retired as a rear admiral on 20 July 1894. ==Permanent change of station travel expenses==