Tromelin Island Flag

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Brief History. The island was first recorded by a French navigator in 1722. It takes its name from the chevalier de Tromelin, captain of the French warship La Dauphine, who visited the island in 1776. Tromelin Island was occupied by France in 1954, but it is claimed by Mauritius. The island the site of a shipwreck in 1761 when a French ship, the Utile, carrying slaves from Madagascar to Mauritius ran onto the reefs of the island. The crew reached Madagascar in a raft, abandoning some 60 slaves on the desert island. Fifteen years later, the chevalier de Tromelin rescued the survivors - seven women and an eight-month-old child.