Vasily Chichagov
Vasily Yakovlevich Chichagov was an admiral in the Russian Navy who distinguished himself in the Russian–Swedish War by fighting three major battles, and an explorer who researched Svalbard.
He was the father of Pavel Chichagov, a Russian admiral during the Napoleonic Wars.
Background
Joining the Navy at the age of 16, Chichagov was educated in Great Britain. Throughout his life, he would become enthusiastic for all things British, eventually marry an English woman, and spend his last years in the United Kingdom.Expeditions
In 1764, the scientist Lomonosov organized an expedition to find the Northeast Passage between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans by sailing along the northern coast of Siberia. Chichagov, then serving as the deputy commandant of Arkhangelsk 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. However, at that time it was the maximum progress of ships to the north; the expedition participants also carried out a large volume of geophysical, oceanographic and meteorological observations, describing the animal and plant life of Svalbard.Islands of Novaya Zemlya Archipelago, the Chichagof Island in the Alexander Archipelago in southeastern Alaska, the bay and cape of Nuka Hiva, in the Marquesas Islands of French Polynesia, the inlet Chichagof Harbor on the island of Attu in the Aleutian Islands, and a mountain at Svalbard are named after Chichagov.