Vasili Yakovlevich Chichagov (1726-1809) was an admiral in the Russian Navy and an explorer.

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 commanded the expedition in 1765 - 1766 with three ships, the Chichagov, the Panov and the Babayev. The expedition failed to find the route.

During the Russo-Swedish War in 1788-1790 he was a commander of the Baltic Fleet. He took part in battles near Åland, Revel (now Tallinn) and Vyborg.

Islands of Novaya Zemlya Archipelago, an island in the Alexander Archipelago in southeastern Alaska, the bay and cape of Nuka Hiva, in the Marquesas Islands of French Polynesia, and a mountain at Spitzbergen are named after Chichagov.

His wife was British, and Chichagov spent the later years of his life in Great Britain.

He was the father of Admiral Pavel Chichagov, a Russian admiral during the Napoleonic Wars.