Îlots des Apôtres

The Îlots of Apôtres ( German " Apostle Islands " ) is the northernmost and smallest group of islands in the archipelago of the Crozet Islands in the southern Indian Ocean. They belong politically to the French overseas territory " Terres et australes antarctiques françaises ".

Geography

The Îlots of Apôtres are in the western group of the archipelago, about 15 km northeast of Ile aux Cochons from which they are separated by the Chenal du Nord. The uninhabited island group has a land area of ​​only about 2 km ² consists of two small islands, Ile Grande and Petite Ile, as well as numerous small and tiny rock islands. The steeply rising from the ocean rocks reach despite their small surface heights 15-122 meters above the sea, the islands even 246 meters on the Petite Ile as well as Mont Pierre 289 m on the Grande Île.

The individual islands and rocks from north to south are ordered:

History

The islands were discovered in January 1772 by Marc -Joseph Marion du Fresne. In the night of 1 to 2 July 1875 British ship Strathmore accident on the way to New Zealand at the Îlots of Apôtres. 40 people were killed, 49 were able to save on the Grande Île. They endured in deplorable conditions until they were rescued on January 21, 1876 from the whaling ship YoungPhoenix. Until then, five more people died of frostbite and tetanus.