Dreadnought Abyssinian Delegation: Cole's Prank

In 1910, Irish poet Horace de Vere Cole orchestrated a prank by convincing friends, including Virginia Woolf and Duncan Grant, to pose as an Abyssinian delegation visiting the flagship HMS Dreadnought. Faking an official telegram, Cole fooled the navy into an elaborate reception, complete with a tour and fake Swahili remarks. The media exposed the hoax on February 12, prompting the Royal Navy to send the Dreadnought to sea to escape the publicity, and the Bloomsbury Group was not formally charged to put the incident behind them.