Vasili Yakovlevich Chichagov (russian: Василий Яковлевич Чичагов; 28 February 1726 – 4 April 1809) was an admiral in the Russian Navy and an explorer. He was the father of

Pavel Chichagov Pavel Vasilievich Chichagov or Tchichagov (russian: Па́вел Васи́льевич Чича́гов) (20 August 1849) was a Russian military and naval commander of the Napoleonic Wars. He was born in 1767 in Saint Petersburg, the son of Ad ...

, a Russian admiral during the

Napoleonic Wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...

Background

Joining the Navy at the age of 16, Chichagov was educated in

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It i ...

. Throughout his life, he would become enthusiastic for all things British, eventually marry an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

woman, and spend his last years in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

(after he had settled into retirement in 1797).

Expeditions

In 1764, the scientist Lomonosov organized an expedition to find the Northeast Passage between the

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...

and

Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contine ...

oceans by sailing along the northern coast of

Siberia Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive region, geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a ...

. Chichagov, then serving as the deputy commandant of

Arkhangelsk Arkhangelsk (, ; rus, Арха́нгельск, p=ɐrˈxanɡʲɪlʲsk), also known in English as Archangel and Archangelsk, is a city and the administrative center of Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia. It lies on both banks of the Northern Dvina near ...

Port, was put in charge of the expedition with three ships, the ''Chichagov'', the ''Panov'' and the ''Babayev''. Although he sailed past Svalbard and reached 80°26'N in 1765 and 80°30'N in 1766, both expeditions failed to find the route. Islands of Novaya Zemlya Archipelago, the

Chichagof Island Chichagof Island (russian: Остров Чичагова), or Shee Kaax, is an island in the Alexander Archipelago of the Alaska Panhandle. At long and wide, it has a land area of , making it the fifth largest island in the United States and ...

in the

Alexander Archipelago The Alexander Archipelago (russian: Архипелаг Александра) is a long archipelago (group of islands) in North America lying off the southeastern coast of Alaska. It contains about 1,100 islands, the tops of submerged coastal m ...

in southeastern

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S. ...

, the bay and cape of Nuka Hiva, in the

Marquesas Islands The Marquesas Islands (; french: Îles Marquises or ' or '; Marquesan: ' ( North Marquesan) and ' ( South Marquesan), both meaning "the land of men") are a group of volcanic islands in French Polynesia, an overseas collectivity of France in ...

of French Polynesia, the inlet

Chichagof Harbor Chichagof Harbor is an inlet on the northeast coast of the island of Attu in the Aleutian Islands in Alaska.''Merriam-Webster's Geographical Dictionary, Third Edition'', p. 243. It is named after Russian Admiral and polar explorer Vasily Chichagov ...

on the island of Attu in the

Aleutian Islands The Aleutian Islands (; ; ale, Unangam Tanangin,”Land of the Aleuts", possibly from Chukchi ''aliat'', "island"), also called the Aleut Islands or Aleutic Islands and known before 1867 as the Catherine Archipelago, are a chain of 14 large v ...

, and a mountain at Spitzbergen are named after Chichagov.

Military career

During the first Russo-Turkish War, Chichagov was made responsible for the defense of the

Kerch Strait The Kerch Strait, uk, Керченська протока, crh, Keriç boğazı, ady, Хы ТӀуалэ is a strait in Eastern Europe. It connects the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov, separating the Kerch Peninsula of Crimea in the west f ...

, preventing the Ottoman warships from gaining access to the Sea of Azov. When the war over, he administered the ports of Arkhangelsk, Revel, and

Kronstadt Kronstadt (russian: Кроншта́дт, Kronshtadt ), also spelled Kronshtadt, Cronstadt or Kronštádt (from german: link=no, Krone for " crown" and ''Stadt'' for "city") is a Russian port city in Kronshtadtsky District of the federal city ...

. During the Russo-Swedish War (1788–1790), he was the Commander-in-chief of the Baltic Fleet. He won the Battle of Öland (1789),

Battle of Reval The naval Battle of Reval took place on 13 May 1790 (2 May OS) during the Russo-Swedish War (1788-1790), off the port of Reval (now Tallinn, Estonia). Origins Undaunted by the Swedish defeats and failures during 1789, the Swedish king, Gus ...

and the Battle of Vyborg Bay.

References

*A. Sokolov. ''Lomonosov's Project and Chichagov's Expedition''. SPb, 1854. {{DEFAULTSORT:Chichagov, Vasili 1726 births 1809 deaths Imperial Russian Navy admirals Explorers from the Russian Empire Russian explorers of North America Russian explorers of the Pacific Russian and Soviet polar explorers Recipients of the Order of St. George of the First Degree Explorers of the United States Baltic Fleet Emigrants from the Russian Empire to the United Kingdom Russian military personnel of the Russo-Swedish War (1788–1790) Burials at Lazarevskoe Cemetery (Saint Petersburg)