Dreadnought hoax

(l–r) Adrian Stephen, Robert Bowen Colthurst, Horace de Vere Cole, Leland Buxton and Lyulph "Drummer" Howard, in costume for the Sultan of Zanzibar hoax at Cambridge

Horace de Vere Cole was born in Ireland in 1881 to a well-to-do family.[lower-alpha 1] He was commissioned into the Yorkshire Hussars and served in the Second Boer War, where he was seriously wounded and invalided out of service.[2][3] On his return to Britain he became an undergraduate at Trinity College, Cambridge; he studied little, and spent his time entertaining and undertaking hoaxes and pranks.[4]

One of Cole's closest friends at Trinity was Adrian Stephen, a keen sportsman and actor. Cole's biographer, Martyn Downer, considers that Stephen was a "perfect foil for ... [Cole]: someone sympathetic and encouraging yet unafraid to take him on".[5] Stephen was the son of Leslie, the writer and critic, and Julia, the philanthropist and Pre-Raphaelite model. Adrian Stephen's elder brother, Thoby was also at Trinity, and their sisters, Vanessa (later Vanessa Bell) and Virginia (later Virginia Woolf) would visit.[6] After university the four Stephen siblings became members of the Bloomsbury Group, the set of associated writers, intellectuals, philosophers and artists, many of whose members had also been at Trinity College. Cole was on the fringes of the group, but never a member.[7]

Postcard published after the Cambridge Hoax

In early 1905, while at their second year at Trinity College, Cambridge, Cole and Adrian Stephen decided to use a visit to England of Sayyid Ali bin Hamud Al-Busaid, the eighth Sultan of Zanzibar as the basis for a hoax.[8][9] A plan was put together to fake a state visit of the sultan to Cambridge, although they realised that as the sultan's picture had recently appeared in the press, there was a risk the visiting sultan would be shown as a fraud. They decided that Cole would impersonate the sultan's uncle, rather than the sultan.[10] On 2 March they sent a telegram to the Mayor of Cambridge to ask if he could arrange a suitable reception for the sultan:

The Sultan of Zanzibar will arrive today at Cambridge at 4.27 for a short visit. Could you arrange to show him buildings of interest and send carriage?
Henry Lucas, Hotel Cecil, London[11][12]

The students obtained robes and turbans from the theatrical costumier Willy Clarkson, applied blackface[13] make-up and took the train from London. A carriage met the group at Cambridge railway station and took them to the guildhall, where they were met by the mayor and town clerk. After a brief reception they were taken on a tour of the town, including some of the university's colleges; the hoaxers were seen by some of their friends and acquaintances who did not recognise them.[14] After less than an hour they demanded to be returned to the station. As they did not want to return to London—returning from which would have meant them breaking the 10:00 pm college curfew—on arrival at the station they ran out of a side exit and took two hansom cabs to a friend's house, where they changed back into their normal attire.[15][16]

The following day Cole gave an interview to the Daily Mail about the hoax; the story appeared in the paper on 4 March 1905, and was repeated in local newspapers. The St James's Gazette considered the events "a most audacious practical joke".[12][lower-alpha 2] The Mayor wanted the students involved to be sent down, but was persuaded by the Vice-Chancellor that this would damage his reputation further.[21]

HMS Dreadnought at sea in 1906

In the early 20th century, Britain's naval fleet was seen as one of the foundations of its empire, and a reflection of the country's power and wealth.[22] As Britain was portrayed in books, plays and popular culture as an island nation, the Royal Navy was seen as the defender of the island, and its first line of defence.[23] A leading article in The Observer in 1909 described the supremacy of the Royal Navy as "the best security for the world's peace and advancement".[24]

HMS Dreadnought, the first of Britain's "dreadnought" class of battleship, entered into Royal Navy service in 1906.[25] Dreadnought was the most technologically advanced ship that had been built; it was better armed, faster and stronger than any other vessel afloat.[26] According to the historian Jan Rüger, from the time the ship was launched, it took on cultural significance as a symbol and entered into public consciousness through songs and advertising. When the ship visited London in 1909—part of three fleet reviews held—a million people were estimated to have watched its arrival, and by 1910 it "had become a cultural icon with undeniable symbolic status".[27] Rüger gives examples of advertising for Oxo stock cubes: "Drink OXO and dread nought"; a tailoring business that used the slogan "Dreadnought and wear British clothing"; and "Dreadnought trams" ran, styled as battleships, and complete with imitation guns.[28] The cultural historian Elisa deCourcy describes the Dreadnought as having "a near sacrosanct nature" for the Edwardians.[22]

In February 1910 the captain of Dreadnought was Herbert Richmond; Admiral Sir William May was the Commander-in-Chief, Home Fleet; as such, Dreadnought was his flagship.[29][30] Also present on Dreadnought was Commander Willie Fisher—the Stephens' cousin—who was on the staff of the Admiral.[31][lower-alpha 3]