Chichagov Vasily - Russian naval commander 1726

[Anatol]

February 28 (March 11), 1726 in a poor noble family near Kostroma was born Vasiliy Yakovlevich Chichagov, a prominent Russian navigator and admiral (1782).
Chichagov was educated at home, and later graduated from the Naval School in Moscow. He began his service as a midshipman, had served in all the junior officer ranks in the Baltic Fleet, then served in Arkhangelsk. In the years of 1765-1766 Chichagov led a secret expedition, organized on the initiative of M. V. Lomonosov: on three small boats it twice tried to cross the Arctic Ocean and reach the Aleutian Islands between Greenland and Spitsbergen. Solid ice had not allowed sailors to reach their destination, but the expedition managed to gather a wealth of material about the nature of the Greenland Sea and make detailed maps of the region.
In 1768 Chichagov became chief commander of the port of Arkhangelsk, struggled with abuses by public officials and sailors. Two years later he received the rank of rear admiral and was summoned to St. Petersburg. He trained crews for the ships of the Baltic fleet and in 1772 he navigated one of the squadrons to the Mediterranean Sea with no losses. When he returned, he was named the chief commander first of the Revel port, then of the port of Kronstadt.
Rear Admiral Chichagov received his baptism of fire on the Black Sea. During the Russian-Turkish war of 1768-1774 he commanded a detachment of the Don Flotilla, which defended the Kerch Strait. In 1775 Chichagov became a member of the Admiralty Board, and in 1782 he was promoted to the rank of admiral.
In the spring of 1789 Chichagov was appointed chief commander of the Archangel, Revel and Kronstadt port. During the war with Sweden of 1789-1790 he commanded the Baltic Fleet and scored three brilliant victories over a stronger enemy fleet: near the island of Öland, in the raid of Revel, and near Vyborg. The victory of the Russian fleet forced the Swedish king Gustav III to conclude a peace treaty.
Tactics of Chichagov in these collisions had been forced to a certain extent. The constant shortage of experienced sailors forced him to avoid a decisive battle. His defensive tactics were not accidental, but a very deliberate method to compensate poor training of crews with local covering. For Revel battle Chichagov was awarded the Order of St. Andrew. After the Battle of Vyborg, he became the first sailor to be awarded the Order of St. George, 1st degree.
Under Paul I Chichagov retired and lived in his estate.
Vasily Yakovlevich Chichagov died on April 4 (16), 1809 and was ceremoniously buried at the cemetery of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra.
After Vasily Chichagov were named islands in the archipelago of Novaya Zemlya, an island in the Alexander Archipelago near the coast of North America, a gulf and the Cape of Nauku-Hiva in South Polynesia, a cape on the island of Kyushu and a mountain on the island of Spitsbergen.
PMR 2019; [P].
Source: https://www.prlib.ru/en/history/619085.

[Anatol]

Battle on the Revel roadstead
On May 13, 1790, the Battle of Revel took place, in which Russian sailors under the command of Admiral Chichagov defeated the superior forces of the Swedish fleet
On May 13, 1790, the Battle of Revel took place, in which Russian sailors under the command of Admiral Chichagov defeated the superior forces of the Swedish fleet . On July 2 (June 22, old style), 1788, the Swedish army under the command of King Gustav III crossed the border of the Russian Empire. The Swedish king believed that the opportune moment had come for revenge for the defeats in the Northern War and in the Russian-Swedish war of 1741-1743. Taking advantage of the support of England, Prussia and Holland, who feared the strengthening of Russia in the Baltic, as well as the fact that the main Russian military forces were engaged in the war with Turkey, he was going to return the lost territories. Along with the outbreak of hostilities, Gustav III put forward a rather strange ultimatum to the Russian Empress, his cousin Catherine II. In it, for example, the Swedish monarch demanded that Russia return to Sweden all the territories obtained as a result of the victories of the Russian army under Peter I and Elizabeth Petrovna, disarm the Russian fleet and conclude an unfavorable peace with Turkey. The main hostilities of the Russian-Swedish war of 1788-1790 took place at sea. In 1790, the Swedes were going to defeat the Russian fleet piecemeal and then capture St. Petersburg. Gustav III planned to first destroy the squadron stationed at the roadstead of Revel (Tallinn). To do this, he assembled significant naval forces: 22 battleships, 4 frigates and 4 auxiliary vessels. The Revel squadron, commanded by Admiral Vasily Yakovlevich Chichagov, consisted of 10 battleships, 5 frigates and several smaller ships. That is, the forces were clearly unequal, the Swedes were several times superior to the Russians in firepower. Knowing this, Admiral Chichagov anchored his ships in Revel harbor in three lines, so that he could immediately turn broadside, open fire with all guns and inflict maximum damage on the enemy. The plan of the Swedish Admiral Nordenskiöld was for the Swedish ships to sail in wake formation (that is, one after the other) past Revel Bay, shooting at Russian ships, then turn around and again pass in a circle in the same order. With the help of such a “carousel” in several passes, he intended to defeat the Russian fleet. However, this plan failed. There was a strong wind at sea, it was stormy, and with the rolling, the Swedish artillerymen could not aim accurately. As a result, the lion's share of Swedish nuclei did not hit the target. At the same time, the Russian sailors, whose ships were at anchor, fired more accurately, and could concentrate the full force of fire on several passing Swedish ships. Particularly unlucky were those Swedish ships that came closer to increase the aim of their fire. They were literally showered with a hail of cannonballs and grapeshot. The flagship of the Swedish squadron, the Gustav III, barely managed to get out from under fire, another battleship was so damaged that its crew chose to surrender, two ships ran aground, one of them was burned, and the other managed to escape, but To do this, most of the guns had to be thrown off it. Two hours later, the outcome of the battle was already clear, so the Swedish fleet turned around and retreated. Russian losses in the Battle of Revel amounted to only 8 people killed and 27 wounded. The Swedes lost more than 130 people killed and wounded, and 520 sailors were captured on the captured ship. Everyone who contributed to the naval victory of the Russian fleet was awarded. Admiral Chichagov received the highest Order of St. Andrew the First-Called, his son, a participant in the battle, Captain Pavel Vasilyevich Chichagov, received the Order of St. George, IV degree, and ship commanders received golden swords with the inscription “For Bravery.” The main result of the battle was the failure of Gustav III’s plans to break up the Russian fleet piecemeal and provide Sweden with dominance in the Baltic Sea. The Revel victory allowed the Russian fleet to take the initiative into its own hands and thereby bring closer the conclusion of a peace beneficial to Russia.
The general picture of the battle on the Revel roadstead is depicted in the painting by A. Bogolyubov: “The battle of the Russian fleet with Swedish in 1790" in the background of the stamp behind the portrait of V. Chichagov.

Source: https://story/boy_na_revelskom_reyde_41 ... e432374534.
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