Vasily Yakovlevich Chichagov (Russian: Василий Яковлевич Чичагов, romanized: Vasiliy Yakovlevič Čičagov;[a] 11 March [O.S.
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 (after he had settled into retirement in 1797).
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.
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.
During the first Russo-Turkish War of Catherine's reign, Chichagov was made responsible for the defense of the Kerch Strait, preventing the Ottoman warships from gaining access to the Sea of Azov.