Discovery of the Kerguelen Islands

Background. Yves Joseph Marie de Kerguelen-Trémarec was a French Navy officer who had served as a privateer, without much success, during the Seven Years' War. In early 1772 he was assigned command of the third French expedition sent in search of the fabled Terra Australis, sailing with the fluyts Fortune and Gros Ventre.

The Discovery. On 12 February 1772 the expedition officially discovered the Kerguelen Islands, a group of subantarctic islands among the most isolated places on Earth. The French claimed the archipelago for France before returning to Mauritius. Before being officially catalogued in 1772, the islands had appeared as the "Ile de Nachtegal" on Philippe Buache's 1754 map of the islands of the Southern Ocean.

Aftermath. Kerguelen was welcomed as a hero after his voyage and first discovery. Later developments, including his second expedition and subsequent fall from favour, lie outside the scope of this Event.