Pavel Vasilievich Chichagov was born in 1767. He was a son of Admiral Vasiliy Jacovlevich Chichagov.
He began his military service in the Guard in 1779.

In 1782 he took part in the Naval campaign of the Russian Navy in the Mediterranean Sea as an Aide-de-Camp of his father Admiral V.J. Chichagov.

He distiguished himself in the Russian-Swedish War of 1788-1800 as the battleship "Rostislav" commander. After this war he with his brother went to England where he studied in the Naval School.

In 1797 Emperor Pavel I dismissed him, and Chicahov was imprisoned into the Petropavlovskaya Fortress. In 1799 he was discharged by Alexander I and appointed the Commander of a Squadron that was sent to England for the military operations against Holland, also Chichagov was promoted to the rank of Rear Admiral.
In 1801 he was appointed to the suite of Emperor Alexander I, and in 1802 he got the rank of Vice-Admiral and the post of the Assistant Minister of Naval Forces. In 1807 he became an Admiral and the Minister of Naval Forces.

In 1811 he was dismissed from this post under his own application and nominated to be at the person of the Emperor. Also in 1811 he became a member of the State Council, the Commander-in-Chief of the Moldavian Army, the General-Governor of Moldavia and Valakhia and the Commander-in-Chief of the Black Sea Navy.

In the war of 1812 year he commanded the Danube flotilla and fought at first against Austrian and Saxonian troops and then went to the rear of the main French Army. He took part in the battle at the river Berezina (November, 26, 1812).

In this battle Napoleon could cross the river Berezina and withdraw the French Army from the Russian Armies that pursuited it. After this battle Chichagov was blamed for he had let escape the Napoleonic Army.
In 1813 he was given an indefinite leave and went to France for treatment. After this he had never come back to Russia again. When Emperor Nickolay I ordered all Russians who lived abroad to return to Russia, Chichagov didn't come back and was deprived of his pensions. As a result he became a citizen of the Great Britain. The last years of his life he spent in France and Italy.