Evermore (song)

"Evermore" is a song written by composer Alan Menken and lyricist Tim Rice for the musical fantasy film Beauty and the Beast (2017), a live-action remake of Disney's 1991 animated film of the same name. Originally recorded for the film by English actor Dan Stevens, who performs the song in his starring role as the eponymous Beast, "Evermore" was first released as a single by American singer Josh Groban on March 3, 2017. Stevens' version became available on March 10, 2017 when the film's soundtrack was released online, while Groban's cover is played during the film's closing credits.

In the animated film, the Beast barely sings because Menken and original Beauty and the Beast lyricist Howard Ashman had not been able to determine a moment in the film during which it would have been appropriate for the character to perform his own song. Initially, Menken had especially wanted the Beast to perform "If I Can't Love Her", a song he and Rice had written for the character to sing in the stage adaptation of the animated film, in the remake, but ultimately decided that an entirely new song that establishes that the Beast has finally learned how to love instead would be more suitable due to the film's three-act structure.

"Evermore" is a somber Broadway-influenced power ballad; its lyrics explore themes such as true love, heartbreak, loneliness and sacrifice. In Beauty and the Beast, "Evermore" is performed by the Beast shortly after he releases Belle from the castle so that she may return to the village and aid her father. Despite knowing that freeing her will further jeopardize his chances of becoming human again, the Beast realizes he loves Belle and ultimately sacrifices his own happiness in return for hers. Critical reception towards "Evermore" has been mostly positive, with both film and music critics dubbing it the best of the remake's original songs amidst comparisons to "If I Can't Love Her". Critics frequently recognized Stevens among the cast's best vocalists and agreed that "Evermore" was a strong contender for a Best Original Song nomination at the 90th Academy Awards, however it was not nominated for the category.

## Writing and recording

Director Bill Condon had originally envisioned including most songs from the Broadway musical adaptation of Beauty and the Beast in the remake. However, Disney ultimately decided to recruit composer Alan Menken and lyricist Tim Rice to write entirely new songs for the film instead. Original Beauty and the Beast composer Menken reunited with Rice, with whom he had previously collaborated on Disney's animated film Aladdin (1992), to write three new songs for the remake. Rice once again replaced original Beauty and the Beast lyricist Howard Ashman, who had died shortly before the animated film's release, similar to the manner in which he replaced the lyricist to aid Menken in writing new material for the 1994 stage adaptation. Menken believes the songs he and Rice had written for the stage musical would not have translated well to the screen due to structural and pacing differences between the two formats.

In the animated film, the Beast does little singing apart from a brief solo during "Something There" because Menken and Ashman had been unable to agree upon a suitable moment during which the Beast could perform his own song. However, Menken considered it imperative that the character sing a solo in both the stage and live-action adaptations because he believes the Beast is actually the story's protagonist "whose life has changed in the most dramatic way." In the stage production, the Beast performs the ballad "If I Can't Love Her" after he frightens Belle away from the castle, wondering how he can possibly love anyone since he struggles to love her. Menken and Condon had debated whether or not to re-use the song in the remake; despite Menken's strong attachment to "If I Can't Love Her", the musical number was ultimately omitted because it had been written specifically to conclude the first act of a Broadway musical. Screenwriter Stephen Chbosky had originally suggested that the character receive a new song to perform some time after he has saved Belle from the wolves, although Menken and Rice had considered re-writing the song's lyrics into "Now that I've lost her" to better suit the scene. Due to the remake's three-act structure, Menken and Condon concluded it would be best to replace "If I Can't Love Her" with a song that better depicts the Beast's feelings for Belle after he has finally learned to love her and realizes she is no longer his prisoner, while accepting the grim reality that releasing her would ultimately decrease his chances of becoming human again. Rice further convinced the composer to substitute "If I Can't Love Her" with a more appropriate song, joking, "it would be like writing 'Don't Cry for Me Brazil'," referring to "Don't Cry for Me Argentina", a song he wrote for the stage musical Evita.

The songwriters determined that the moment Beast releases Belle and fears that he might have lost her was the only suitable moment in which the character could sing in the film. Menken also agreed that the moment Beast realizes Belle is no longer his prisoner would be a "more satisfying moment" for a musical number. Originally entitled "For Evermore", "Evermore" was written by composer Menken and lyricist Rice. The last of the three original songs written for the remake, "Evermore" was completed considerably late into production after the filmmakers finally agreed that the Beast should perform his own. Written in Spring 2015 in London, England, Menken quickly composed its melody before Rice contributed lyrics revolving around the Beast releasing Belle. Actor Dan Stevens, who portrays the Beast and performs "Evermore", had little singing experience prior to being cast in the film. Before "Evermore" was written, Condon informed Stevens that he would be singing a new song in his role as Beast. Having not sung professionally since childhood, Stevens was required to retrain his singing voice, the process of which he found challenging. To prepare for the recording, Stevens received extensive vocal coaching from vocal coach Ann-Marie Speed in addition to working closely with Menken. Stevens first recorded a "guide track" for "Evermore" before he and Menken revisited the track to modify specific lines and notes. To make the actor sound more "beast-like", sound engineers digitally modified Stevens' voice, which Menken produced with Matt Sullivan and Michael Kosarin. Auto-Tune was used to make Stevens' voice sound lower and heavier. Menken continued making minor changes to the song well into production. On recording a new song, Stevens said, "the pressure's sort of off — but it's also on — because it doesn't have to sound like it did before, but it should sound good enough to sit alongside the music that's already pretty great." Stevens agreed that the song is "a big, romantic, soaring number" about the Beast lamenting "I've fallen in love with her, and now she's buggered off, woe is me", while "If I Can't Love Her" is "How am I going to fall in love with her?" Replacing "If I Can't Love Her" with "Evermore" helped make the songwriters eligible for an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Song.

Stevens' version of "Evermore" was released on March 10, 2017 as a track on the Beauty and the Beast soundtrack. Menken's demo version of the song is included on deluxe editions of the album.

## Context and use in Beauty and the Beast

One of at least nine significant ways the remake deviates from its source material, "Evermore" is among the film's songs that emphasize the sadness and loneliness of both the Beast and Belle's situations. Occurring approximately two-thirds into the film, the song assumes a role that was originally occupied by the song "If I Can't Love Her" in the Broadway musical, identified by Fred Hawson of ABS-CBN News as "a grand moving solo" during which the Beast sincerely expresses his undying feelings for Belle. In Beauty and the Beast, "Evermore" appears as a solo performed by the Beast shortly before "The Mob Song" as the film approaches its dramatic climax. After the Beast and Belle (Emma Watson) share a dance in the castle's ballroom to Mrs. Potts (Emma Thompson) singing "Beauty and the Beast", the couple has a conversation during which the Beast learns how much Belle actually misses her father, Maurice (Kevin Kline). Finally admitting that Belle is no longer his prisoner, the character sings "Evermore" shortly after he releases the heroine from the castle, insisting that she return to her village and protect Maurice from Gaston (Luke Evans). Believing that Belle has been lost to him forever, the Beast is heartbroken by the character's departure and laments his misfortune by performing "Evermore", accepting that releasing his former prisoner makes breaking the enchantress' spell more difficult, even impossible. Serving as a culmination of both the Beast's personal and emotional journeys, Tracy Goldman of The Cornell Daily Sun observed that the song "adds more depth to the character" by "highlighting the changes he goes through throughout the movie."

Similar to "If I Can't Love Her", "Evermore" provides the Beast with "a stronger voice". The song occurs at a pivotal moment in the film during which the Beast bemoans his decision to release Belle, uncovering both his inner pain and character growth as he voices "a sad sense of longing". For the first time, audiences learn exactly how the Beast feels when he frees Belle to rescue Maurice. In the musical sequence, the Beast continues to climb higher up the turrets of his castle to watch Belle as she rides away on her horse and gradually disappears into the distance. The orchestra increases and swells as the anguished Beast continues to climb. Menken explained that the character watches Belle leave while thinking to himself "I know what love is now, and it's wonderful, even though I'll never see her again". "Evermore" captures the Beast's agony as he watches the woman he loves leave him. Whereas "If I Can't Love Her" allowed the character to remain in one location for three minutes, the film required him to be somewhere different from where he began the end of the song. Condon observed that the song reflects the Beast's actions, both musically and lyrically ascending as the character "climb[s] higher and higher in the castle so that he can still keep sight of her and so that he can see her for as long as he possibly can."

Citing the song as an example of the film's characters resorting to singing whenever they find that they are not able to speak, Condon described "Evermore" as one of the film's "dramatic high points", proving that the Beast has finally become "worthy of love". For the Beast, the song represents "an ode to his love for Belle and his unending, longing devotion as she rides away from him, possibly forever", serving as "a profound meditation on his own isolation and heartache". According to Menken, the character is "basically singing about how he now knows what love is". The Beast is now shown to be capable of feeling and expressing human emotions, namely heartbreak, loneliness and helplessness, having learned about true love and sacrifice. According to Zoe Nicholson of The Daily Gamecock, "Evermore" "adds humanity not yet seen in a character regarded as savage or spoiled rotten." Walt Disney Studios president of music and soundtracks Mitchell Leib described the scene as the film's "Phantom of the Opera moment." Traditionally in Disney films, heroines are typically assigned "rousing" musical numbers to perform. Screen Rant contributor Kacey Spivey observed that Belle's departure and the scene represents a reversal of the traditional fairy tale trope in which a princess is trapped in a tower. Instead the Beast is confined to his tower, longing for the heroine to return and free him from his enchantment. Brett Nachman compared the scene to Quasimodo performing "Out There" in Disney's animated musical The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996).

## Music and lyrics

Distinguished for being the remake's "most powerful" original song, music critics have described "Evermore" as a big, romantic number. A "soaring ballad" supported by "grand orchestration", WTOP's Jason Fraley described "Evermore" as a "haunting song of longing". A "mournful love song", it crescendos into a soaring lament about longing for a lost love. Delivered as an emotional power ballad, its instrumentation begins with the Beast's "eerie" "Rose" theme, before transitioning into a musical solo based on the track's melody and bridge. Despite being a "lovesick ballad" reminiscent of songs from the stage musical Les Misérables, the ballad is a more upbeat offering than its Broadway counterpart, "If I Can't Love Her". However, the track remains one of the more melancholy inclusions on a soundtrack largely consisting of upbeat musical numbers. Writing for Elle, Alyssa Bailey deemed the song Broadway's version of a breakup ballad, which features the lyrics "I let her steal into my melancholy heart/It's more than I can bear". Musically, the track bears similarities to songs from Disney's animated film The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996), which Menken also composed, and has been likened to the work of composer Andrew Lloyd Webber.

"Evermore"'s melody is paired with lyrics that express loneliness, accompanied by heavy orchestration that swells as the ballad progresses. Simultaneously "brooding" and hopeful, Jay Jason of ComicBook.com believes the song's lyrics are inspired by the popular phrase "If you love someone, let them go". Stevens' voice quivers with emotion when he sings "I never needed anybody in my life", which Amanda Greever of The Daily Times insisted will move listeners to tears. Featuring lyrics that explore heartache and heartbreak, "Evermore"'s chorus reads: "Now I know she'll never leave me/Even as she runs away/She will still torment me/Call me, hurt me/Move me, come what may/Wasting in my lonely tower/Waiting by an open door/I'll fool myself, she'll walk right in/And be with me for evermore". The track also discusses themes such as true love, sacrifice, and learning to understand love.

Stevens sings within the vocal range of a "deep, resonating baritone" throughout the song, which lasts three minutes and fourteen seconds in duration. Channel NewsAsia contributor Genevieve Sarah Loh compared Stevens' voice to "melted-chocolate", which gradually becomes more human-sounding as the song progresses. Belting comfortably, Stevens' voice has been compared to that of Terrence Mann, the actor who originated the role of the Beast in the Broadway adaptation and recorded "If I Can't Love Her". Mumbling slightly, Stevens begin the song using a more "guttural" part of his voice in an effort to impersonate the sound of a beast before the song truly progresses into "a soaring love ballad". Some traces of Auto-Tune can be heard in Stevens' performance.

## Reception

"Evermore" received generally positive reviews from film and music critics, becoming a fan favorite. When Disney released the film's first official trailer in November 2016, Billboard's Taylor Weatherby ranked "Evermore" the fifth most-anticipated song from the remake. Vulture.com's Sarah Caldwell commended Disney's bravery to immediately follow-up the film's most famous song with an original song. Writing for Stuff.co.nz, James Croot appreciated "Evermore" for enhancing the film by allowing the Beast to sing. Katlin Risen of The State Journal-Register and Andrew Gaug of News-Press NOW called the song a welcome addition to the story. Citing "Evermore" among the film's musical highlights, the Christian Broadcasting Network reviewed the track as "a wonderful, heartbreaking ballad". Lindsay Bahr of the Associated Press felt "Evermore" was "more fitting" for the character than "If I Can't Love Her", while Her Campus's Justine Steiner called it "infectious". Xposé'''s Marese O'Sullivan claims to have "adored" the song upon hearing it for the first time. Cameron Meier of Orlando Weekly lauded "Evermore" as the film's dramatic highlight, which he nearly rewarded with a standing ovation, while Metro's Sarah Deen dubbed it "an instant classic". Writing for the British Film Institute, Kate Stables opined that "Evermore" remains "the only standout among the film’s forgettable trio of new songs".

Critics agreed that Stevens' vocal performance was a musical highlight of the film. The Yakima Herald-Republic's Danielle Niemann, Jason Fraley of WTOP, and Varsity contributor Robert Crawford agreed that the actor's voice was chill-inducing, while The Salt Lake Tribune's Sean P. Means said the ballad "gives Stevens a nice moment to pour out the tragic hero's broken heart". According to the Toronto Star's Peter Howell, "Evermore" establishes Stevens as one of the cast's best singers, while La Presse's Sonia Sarfati found the actor's performance moving. CIHR-FM's Shelby Knox concluded that Stevens "shows a lot of promise" despite his limited singing experience. Meanwhile, MTV ranked "Evermore" fourth on their "All 14 Songs from Disney's Live-action Beauty and the Beast" ranking; author Crystal Bell claims she would have it ranked it higher had Stevens' voice not been manipulated. Bell went on to write that the song sounds like "a B side off The Hunchback of Notre Dame", which she insists is "the highest compliment I can give a song."

Calling the track inferior to "If I Can't Love Her", ReelViews film critic James Berardinelli found "Evermore" "solid" but unmemorable. However, Berardinelli deemed Stevens' voice the strongest among the film's cast, wishing his character was allowed "more opportunities to use it". Angie Han of Mashable said the song fares marginally better than "How Does a Moment Last Forever" and "Days in the Sun", but ultimately accused it of slowing down the film. Maria Sciullo of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette found the ballad to be lacking power and criticized Stevens' use of Auto-Tune, while Zimbio contributor Lani Conway called his voice "confusing". IGN's Eric Goldman was unimpressed with the track, dismissing "Evermore" as uninspired and unmemorable, while Alexandra August of Comic Book Resources reviewed "Evermore" as "excessively sentimental", "meandering", and "mopey". The Rolla Daily News critic Dana Barbuto found the song "less soaring than intended", while Katie Walsh, writing for The Sun Chronicle, relegated "Evermore" to "the perfect bathroom break"; a "snooze-worthy tune does nothing for the already dragging story". In a mixed review, the Daily Bruin's Matthew Fernandez described "Evermore" as one of two songs "that matches the grandeur of the classic Disney works" but criticized Steven's vocals, which he found "less pleasing to the ear" due to Stevens' impersonation of a beast, dismissing the attempt as "cheesy" and harmful to the actor's performance.

Some journalists felt "Evermore" was a strong contender for an Academy Award for Best Original Song nomination. Paul Sheehan of Golderby theorized that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences would most likely favor "Evermore" over "How Does a Moment Last Forever" and "Days in the Sun". In December 2017, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences revealed that "Evermore" was one among 70 songs that the organization shortlisted for Best Original Song consideration. Ultimately, "Evermore" did not earn a nomination in the category, which some critics have viewed as a snub given the popularity of the song and the film. "Evermore" was nominated for Best Song at the 2018 Critics' Choice Awards, losing to "Remember Me" from Pixar's Coco (2017).

## International versions

On its theater release, the movie numbered 32 dubbings worldwide, with the song Evermore counting 31 versions overall: Yoni Amar [fr]'s recording of the song was used in both French versions released in Europe and Canada, although the rest of the two dubbings was independent. Yiánnis Palamídas, Greek voice actor of the Beast, had already dubbed this character in the original animated version: he reprised his role in the live-action 24 years later.

## Chart performance

Although Stevens' version of the song was never released as a single, its popularity combined with that of the film and its related soundtrack resulted in the track charting on several charts due to digital download sales. "Evermore" peaked at number 18 and 46 on the US Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles and US Digital Songs charts, respectively, on April 8, 2017, spending one week on both charts.

## Certifications

## Josh Groban version

Following the release of Ariana Grande and John Legend's pop rendition of "Beauty and the Beast", Leib asked the studio for permission to release another one of Beauty and the Beast's original songs as a single ahead of the film's March 17, 2017 release date. After eliminating "Days in the Sun" and confirming that Canadian singer Celine Dion would not be available to promote her cover of "How Does a Moment Last Forever", the studio ultimately decided to release "Evermore". Menken and Condon had been discussing which contemporary recording artist would be capable of delivering a song as vocally "demanding" as "Evermore". After briefly considering Italian opera singer Andrea Bocelli, Leib suggested American singer Josh Groban because, in his opinion, the singer's "voice is a natural fit for this showstopper of a composition." Having already known Groban personally, Menken texted the singer who immediately confirmed his interest. Groban recorded the song shortly after the studio made final arrangements with his manager.

On January 26, 2017, Disney announced that Groban had recorded a cover of "Evermore" – still entitled "For Evermore", at the time – and revealed that his version would be included on the remake's soundtrack in addition to being played during the film's end credits. Groban released a statement, saying: "I am honored to sing this beautiful new song by two of my absolute favorites, Alan Menken and Tim Rice. Beauty and the Beast has been with me since my childhood and to have a musical connection to this new film makes me so happy." The announcement coincided with the studio's release of a new promotional poster for the film, which Disney allowed the singer to premiere using his official Twitter account. A 30-second sample of the track was uploaded to SoundCloud on February 14, 2017, which Groban also shared on Twitter. Groban's version was released as the second single from Beauty and the Beast's soundtrack on March 3, 2017, several days before the album, on which Stevens' original rendition appears, was released. Groban promoted the song with a performance on Good Morning America on March 14, 2017. The occasion marked both the song's first televised performance, as well as the first time an original song from the remake was performed live on television.

Musically, Groban's single remains a "Broadway-like" operatic pop ballad that features the same lyrics, beginning "I was the one who had it all". Written in the key of A major at moderately slow tempo of 96 beats per minute, Groban's three-minutes-and-nine-seconds rendition evokes a "sweeping, operatic quality", featuring lyrics revolving about pining for true love. At the same time, the single resembles contemporary Disney ballads such as Sarah McLachlan's "When She Loved Me" and Phil Collins' "You'll Be In My Heart" from the animated films Toy Story 2 and Tarzan, both of which were released in 1999, respectively. According to Golderby's Paul Sheehan, the track is Groban's "heartbreaking rendition of" a "plaintive plea for love." The song garnered positive reviews from critics that distinguished it from the mild controversies that had been surrounding the film at the time of its release. Devan Coggan of Entertainment Weekly described the song as a "gorgeous ballad", while Den of Geek praised Groban's interpretation as "immeasurable". According to Elle writer Alyssa Bailey, Groban's emotional performance will cause listeners to "feel the Beast's feels". Dubbing the track "one of the highlights of the album", the Daily Bruin's Matthew Fernandez reviewed the ballad as "a grand uplifting ballad centered on Groban's rich voice". Vulture.com's Sarah Caldwell admitted to listening to both Groban and Stevens' versions of the song back-to-back with "zero ounces of shame." 34th Street Magazine contributor Haley Weiss preferred Groban's version to Stevens' original, calling it "breathtaking and downright lovely to listen to" while dismissing the film version as "downright mediocre in comparison." Weiss questioned why Disney hadn't cast Groban as the Beast instead of Stevens due to the former's acting and musical theatre background.

Groban would again sing the song as the Beast for 2022's Beauty and the Beast: A 30th Celebration'' on ABC.

2017 single by Dan Stevens

Songs from Beauty and the Beast (franchise)


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The Virginia Lottery is an independent agency of the Commonwealth of Virginia. It was created in 1987 when Virginians voted in a statewide referendum in favor of a state lottery. The first ticket was sold on September 20, 1988. All profits from Virginia Lottery ticket sales go to K-12 public education, as required by Virginia's constitution. In Fiscal Year 2022, the Lottery's profits totaled more than \$779.6 million, accounting for approximately 10 percent of school funding in Virginia. That brought total Lottery profits in Virginia (from 1989 through June 2022) to more than \$14.5 billion.

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#### Mega Millions

Mega Millions is a drawing game played in Virginia and most other U. S. states (Virginia is one of the original six states to first offer the game in 1996 when it was known as "The Big Game"). Jackpots start at \$20 million and grow with each drawing in which there is no jackpot winner. Drawings are held Tuesdays and Fridays. Players select five numbers, 1 through 70, plus a Mega Ball number, 1 through 25. Players also have the option to use the Megaplier, which increases the ticket price by \$1 each but raises the value of any non-jackpot prizes won. A ticket matching all six numbers win the jackpot. The jackpot is pari-mutuel, meaning that if multiple tickets match all six numbers, each of them receives an equal share of the total jackpot. Mega Millions jackpot are offered as an annuity, although a cash option is also available.

The odds of matching all six numbers to win the Mega Millions jackpot are 1 in 302,575,350. The odds of winning any prize are 1 in 24. Nine Mega Millions jackpots have been won in Virginia.

#### Powerball

Powerball is a drawing game in which players try to match five numbers from 1 through 69, plus a Powerball number from 1 through 26. A ticket that matches all six numbers wins the jackpot. Jackpot amounts begin at \$20 million and grow with each drawing in which the jackpot is not won. Top-prize Powerball winners can choose cash in lieu of annuity payments. The jackpot is pari-mutuel, meaning that if multiple tickets match all six numbers, each of them receives an equal share of the total jackpot. Drawings are held on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays.

A basic Powerball ticket costs \$2. The Power Play option adds \$1 to the price of each ticket in a given playslip, so a Powerball ticket with Power Play costs \$3 (up from \$2). The odds of matching all six numbers to win the Powerball jackpot are 1 in 292,201,338. The odds of winning any prize are 1 in 25. One Powerball jackpot has been won in Virginia since the game first became available in the Commonwealth in 2010.

### Scratchers

From its inception, the Virginia Lottery has sold instant (scratcher) games. Originally, all scratch tickets were \$1 each; in the mid-1990s, the first Bingo scratcher was introduced; each Bingo ticket cost \$2. Eventually, higher-priced scratchers (including \$3, \$5, and \$10) with larger prizes were introduced. Currently, the most expensive scratchers in common circulation are \$30 each. All \$30 currently in circulation and most \$20 and \$10 games offer a top prize of at least \$1 million (annuitized). The highest prize offered in a scratcher is currently \$10 million (annuitized): offered on select \$30 games. There is also a \$5 scratcher "Win a Spin," where select winners participate in a live television show to claim prizes of up to \$500,000. Winners of scratcher annuity prizes of at least \$1 million can choose cash (just as in the top prizes in Powerball, Mega Millions, or Cash4Life).

### Print 'n Play

The Lottery also offers Print 'n Play games. As with traditional Lottery games, tickets are printed by the terminal; however as in scratchers, winning status are determined when the ticket is printed (there is no drawing). Originally called Fast Play with a continually-changing lineup of games at \$2, \$3, and \$5 prices, each with its own rules and prizes, when it became Print 'n Play the lineup was simplified to the three most popular games—Bingo, Blackjack, and Crossword—and a new \$10 tier was added for Bingo and Crossword. A \$20 tier has recently been added along with a new game: Print 'n Play × (Times) the Money, based on a popular series of scratchers.

In addition, the Lottery offers Print 'n Play Rolling Jackpot. Unlike the other Print n’ Play games, the top prize of this game is based on a rolling jackpot that builds over time. The game cam be played for \$2, \$5, or \$10, with the top prize of each being 20%, 50%, and 100% of the jackpot, respectively. If a top prize is claimed, the jackpot is reduced accordingly and then, respectively, \$10,000, \$25,000, or \$50,000 is added back in to ensure a minimum jackpot of \$50,000 at any time.

## Online gaming

Many Virginia Lottery games can be played online, at the Lottery’s website valottery.com. This includes Mega Millions, Powerball, Cash4Life, Pick 3, Pick 4, Cash 5 with EZ Match and many instant-win games available online only. In order to play online, a person must be at least 18 years old and physically located in Virginia. Online sales began on July 1, 2020, the first day allowed under a change in state law that had previously banned online play. Within the first 12 months, online sales in Virginia surpassed \$807 million. The Virginia Lottery also has a mobile app that provides players with drawing results, a ticket checker, and mobile playslips that can be scanned by retailers to make wagering easier. Online games are not played via the app.

## Security

Virginia Lottery drawings are conducted under elaborate security protocols. The set of balls used for each drawing are randomly selected from a number of sets; and detailed records of "test" drawings are maintained to prevent systematic biases. In addition, forging lottery tickets, or tampering with a Lottery drawing is a Class 5 felony. All Virginia Lottery employees and applicants to become Lottery sales agents are fingerprinted and subject to criminal background checks.

Theft of Virginia Lottery tickets are investigated by both the Lottery Investigators and local law enforcement agencies. Lottery Investigators are fully sworn Law Enforcement Officers. Per Virginia law it vests the Director, the director of security, and investigators of the State Lottery Department with the powers of sheriffs in enforcing the statutes and regulations relating to the lottery.

## Compulsive gambling

The Virginia Lottery has an extensive Play Responsibly program aimed at informing people about problem gambling and gambling addiction. Virginia law requires that each ticket include a telephone number for a counseling service that addresses compulsive gambling. That number links to the Virginia Problem Gambling Helpline, which is maintained the Virginia Council on Problem Gambling. The Lottery also includes information on compulsive gambling on its website. and has produced Problem Gambling and Play Responsibly public service announcements for TV and radio. The Lottery supports National Problem Gambling Awareness Month.

## See also

- Gambling
- Lotteries in the United States

State lottery in Virginia, United States


Fusō-class battleship

The Fusō-class battleships (扶桑型戦艦, Fusō-gata senkan) were a pair of dreadnought battleships built for the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) before World War I and completed during it. Both patrolled briefly off the coast of China before being placed in reserve at the war's end. In 1922 Yamashiro became the first battleship in the IJN to successfully launch aircraft.

During the 1930s, both ships underwent a series of modernizations and reconstructions. Fusō underwent her modernization in two phases (1930–33, 1937–41), while Yamashiro was reconstructed from 1930 to 1935. The modernization increased their armor, replaced and upgraded their machinery, and rebuilt their superstructures into the distinctive pagoda mast style. Despite the expensive reconstructions, both vessels were considered obsolescent by the eve of World War II, and neither saw significant action in the early years of the war. Fusō served as a troop transport in 1943, while Yamashiro was relegated to training duty in the Inland Sea. Both underwent upgrades to their anti-aircraft suite in 1944 before transferring to Singapore in August 1944.

Fusō and Yamashiro were the only two Japanese battleships at the Battle of Surigao Strait, the southernmost action of the Battle of Leyte Gulf, and both were lost in the early hours of 25 October 1944 to torpedoes and naval gunfire. Some eyewitnesses later claimed that Fusō broke in half, and that both halves remained afloat and burning for an hour, but historian Anthony Tully has made the case that she simply sank after forty minutes of flooding. Six U.S. Navy battleships and eight cruisers were lying in wait for Yamashiro; she did not survive the encounter, and Vice Admiral Shōji Nishimura went down with his ship. Only ten crewmembers from each ship survived.

## Background

The design of the Fusō-class battleships was shaped both by the ongoing international naval arms race and a desire among Japanese naval planners to maintain a fleet of capital ships powerful enough to defeat the United States Navy in an encounter in Japanese territorial waters. The IJN's fleet of battleships had proven highly successful in 1905, the last year of the Russo-Japanese War, which culminated in the destruction of the Russian Second and Third Pacific Squadrons at the Battle of Tsushima.

In the aftermath, the Japanese Empire immediately turned its focus to the two remaining rivals for imperial dominance in the Pacific Ocean: Britain and the United States. Satō Tetsutarō, a Japanese Navy admiral and military theorist, speculated that conflict would inevitably arise between Japan and at least one of its two main rivals. To that end, he called for the Japanese Navy to maintain a fleet with at least 70% as many capital ships as the US Navy. This ratio, Satō theorized, would enable the Imperial Japanese Navy to defeat the US Navy in one major battle in Japanese waters in any eventual conflict. Accordingly, the 1907 Imperial Defense Policy called for the construction of a battle fleet of eight modern battleships, 20,000 long tons (20,321 t) each, and eight modern armored cruisers, 18,000 long tons (18,289 t) each. This was the genesis of the Eight-Eight Fleet Program, the development of a cohesive battle line of sixteen capital ships.

The launch of HMS Dreadnought in 1906 by the Royal Navy raised the stakes, and complicated Japan's plans. Displacing 17,900 long tons (18,200 t) and armed with ten 12-inch (30.5 cm) guns, Dreadnought rendered all existing battleships obsolete by comparison. The launch of the battlecruiser HMS Invincible the following year was a further setback for Japan's quest for parity. When the two new Satsuma-class battleships and two Tsukuba-class armored cruisers, launched by 1911, were outclassed by their British counterparts, the Eight-Eight Fleet Program was restarted.

The first battleships built for the renewed Eight-Eight Fleet Program were the two dreadnoughts of the Kawachi class, ordered in 1907 and laid down in 1908. In 1910, the Navy put forward a request to the Diet (parliament) to secure funding for the entirety of the program at once. Because of economic constraints, the proposal was cut first by the Navy Ministry to seven battleships and three battlecruisers, then by the cabinet to four armored cruisers and a single battleship. The Diet amended this by authorizing the construction of four battlecruisers (the Kongō class) and one battleship, later named Fusō, in what became the Naval Emergency Expansion bill.

## Design

Fusō was designed to work in conjunction with the four battlecruisers. After coordination with the British on the Kongō class, Japanese designers had access to the latest British design studies in naval architecture and were now able to design their own capital ships. In an effort to outmatch the American New York class, planners called for a ship armed with twelve 14-inch (36 cm) guns and faster than the 21 knots (39 km/h; 24 mph) of their rivals. Vickers files show that the Japanese had access to the designs for double- and triple-gun turrets, yet opted for six double turrets over four triple turrets.

The final design—designated A-64 by the IJN—called for a displacement of 29,000 long tons (29,465 t) with twelve 14-inch (36 cm) guns in six double turrets (two forward, two aft, two separated amidships) with a top speed of 23 knots (43 km/h; 26 mph). This design was superior to its American counterparts in armament, armor and speed, thus following the doctrine the Japanese had used since the First Sino-Japanese War of 1894–95 of compensating for quantitative inferiority with qualitative superiority.

## Description

The ships had a length of 202.7 meters (665 ft) overall. They had a beam of 28.7 meters (94 ft 2 in) and a draft of 8.7 meters (28 ft 7 in). They displaced 29,326 metric tons (28,863 long tons) at standard load. Their crew consisted of 1,198 officers and enlisted men in 1915 and 1,396 in 1935. During World War II, the crew probably totalled around 1,800–1,900 men.

During the ships' modernization during the 1930s, their forward superstructures were enlarged with multiple platforms added to their tripod foremasts. The rear superstructures were rebuilt to accommodate mounts for 127-millimetre (5.0 in) anti-aircraft (AA) guns and additional fire-control directors. Both ships were also given torpedo bulges to improve their underwater protection and to compensate for the weight of the additional armor. In addition, their sterns were lengthened by 7.62 meters (25.0 ft). These changes increased their overall length to 212.75 m (698.0 ft), their beam to 33.1 m (108 ft 7 in) and their draft to 9.69 meters (31 ft 9 in). Their displacement increased nearly 4,000 long tons (4,100 t) to 39,154 long tons (39,782 t) at deep load.

### Propulsion

The Fusō-class ships had two sets of Brown-Curtis direct-drive steam turbines, each of which drove two propeller shafts. The medium-pressure turbines drove the wing shafts while the high- and low-pressure turbines drove the inner shafts. The turbines were designed to produce a total of 40,000 shaft horsepower (30,000 kW), using steam provided by 24 Miyahara-type water-tube boilers, each of which consumed a mixture of coal and oil. The ships had a stowage capacity of 4,000 long tons (4,100 t) of coal and 1,000 long tons (1,000 t) of fuel oil, giving them a range of 8,000 nautical miles (15,000 km; 9,200 mi) at a speed of 14 knots (26 km/h; 16 mph). Both ships exceeded their designed speed of 22.5 knots (41.7 km/h; 25.9 mph) during their sea trials; Fusō reached 23 knots (43 km/h; 26 mph) from 46,500 shp (34,700 kW) and Yamashiro exceeded that with 23.3 knots (43.2 km/h; 26.8 mph) from 47,730 shp (35,590 kW).

During their 1930s modernization, the Miyahara boilers on each ship were replaced by six new Kanpon oil-fired boilers, fitted into the former aft boiler room, and the forward funnel was removed. The Brown-Curtis turbines were replaced by four geared Kanpon turbines with a designed output of 75,000 shp (56,000 kW). On her trials, Fusō reached a top speed of 24.7 knots (45.7 km/h; 28.4 mph) from 76,889 shp (57,336 kW). The fuel storage of the ships was increased to a total of 5,100 long tons (5,200 t) of fuel oil that gave them a range of 11,800 nautical miles (21,900 km; 13,600 mi) at a speed of 16 knots (30 km/h; 18 mph).

### Armament

The twelve 45-calibre 14-inch guns of the Fusō class were mounted in six twin-gun turrets, numbered from front to rear, each of which weighed 615 long tons (625 t). The turrets had an elevation capability of −5/+20 degrees. They were arranged in an uncommon 2-1-1-2 style with superfiring pairs of turrets fore and aft; the middle turrets were not superfiring, and had a funnel between them. The decision to use six twin turrets rather than four triple turrets greatly affected the entire design of the class because the two extra turrets required a longer ship and increased the amount of armor required to protect the ship. The location of the third and fourth turrets proved particularly problematic to the design of the class because the amidships turrets were not superfiring as in the subsequent Ise-class battleships. This further increased the length of the ships because the barrels of the upper turret did not protrude over the lower turret, requiring more space than a pair of superfiring turrets. Mounted amidships along the centerline of the ship, they had restricted arcs of fire, and their position forced the boiler rooms to be placed in less than ideal locations. Another complication was the need to fit extra insulation and air conditioning in the magazines of the amidships turrets to protect them from the heat generated in the adjacent boiler rooms. Originally both amidship gun turrets faced to the rear, but Fusō's turret No. 3 was moved to face forward during her reconstruction in order to accommodate additional platforms around her funnel.

The main battery of the Fusō class underwent multiple modernizations throughout the ships' careers. During the first reconstruction of both vessels, the elevation of the main guns was increased to −5/+43 degrees, giving a maximum firing range of 35,450 yards (32,420 m). The recoil mechanism of the guns was also changed from a hydraulic to pneumatic system, which allowed for a faster firing cycle of the main guns.

By World War II, the guns used Type 91 armor-piercing, capped shells. Each of these shells weighed 673.5 kilograms (1,485 lb) and had a muzzle velocity of 775 meters per second (2,540 ft/s). They had a maximum range of 27,800 meters (30,400 yd) at +30 degrees of elevation and 35,450 meters (38,770 yd) at +43 degrees after modernization. Also available was a 625-kilogram (1,378 lb) high-explosive shell that had a muzzle velocity of 805 meters per second (2,640 ft/s). A special Type 3 Sankaidan incendiary shrapnel shell was developed in the 1930s for anti-aircraft use.

As built, the Fusō class was fitted with a secondary armament of sixteen 50-caliber six-inch guns mounted in single casemates along the sides of the hull at the level of the upper deck. Eight guns were mounted per side, and each had an arc of fire of 130 degrees and a maximum elevation of +15 degrees. Each gun could fire a 45.36-kilogram (100.0 lb) high-explosive projectile a maximum distance of 22,970 yards (21,000 m) at a rate of between four and six shots per minute. During their reconstruction in the 1930s, the maximum elevation of the guns was increased to +30 degrees, which increased their maximum range by approximately 900 metres (980 yd).

The ships also mounted five or six 40-caliber 76 mm anti-aircraft (AA) guns. The 76-millimetre (3 in) high-angle guns were in single mounts on both sides of the forward superstructure, both sides of the second funnel, and each side of the aft superstructure (Fusō lacked the starboard side aft gun). Each of these guns had a maximum elevation of +75 degrees, and could fire a 6 kg (13 lb) projectile with a muzzle velocity of 680 m/s (2,200 ft/s) to a maximum height of 7,500 metres (24,600 ft). Both ships were equipped with six submerged 533-millimetre (21.0 in) torpedo tubes, three on each broadside.

The Fusō class's secondary armament changed significantly over time. During the modernizations of the 1930s, all of the 76 mm guns were replaced with eight 40-caliber 127 mm (5.0 in) dual-purpose guns. These guns were fitted on both sides of the fore and aft superstructures in four twin-gun mounts. When firing at surface targets, the guns had a range of 14,700 metres (16,100 yd); they had a maximum ceiling of 9,440 metres (30,970 ft) at their maximum elevation of +90 degrees. Their maximum rate of fire was 14 rounds a minute, but their sustained rate of fire was around eight rounds per minute. During reconstruction, the two foremost 152 mm guns were also removed.

The light AA armament of the Fusō class changed dramatically from 1933 to 1944. During the first reconstruction, Fusō was fitted with four quadruple 13.2 mm (0.52 in) machine-guns, while Yamashiro was fitted with eight twin 25-millimeter (0.98 in) gun mounts. Both weapons were license-built French Hotchkiss designs. The 25 mm guns were mounted on the Fusō class in single, double and triple mounts. This model was the standard Japanese light anti-aircraft gun during World War II, but it suffered from severe design shortcomings that rendered it a largely ineffective weapon. The twin and triple mounts "lacked sufficient speed in train or elevation; the gun sights were unable to handle fast targets; the gun exhibited excessive vibration; the magazine was too small, and, finally, the gun produced excessive muzzle blast". The configuration of the anti-aircraft guns varied significantly; by the end of their final reconstruction, the Fusō class mounted eight twin mounts. In 1943, seventeen single and two twin-mounts were added for a total of 37. In August 1944, both were fitted with another twenty-three single, six twin and eight triple-mounts, for a total of 96 anti-aircraft guns in their final configuration.

### Armor

When the Fusō class was completed, the ships' armor was "typical for a pre-Jutland battleship". As built, the armor accounted for a displacement of 8,588 long tons (8,726 t), approximately 29% of the class's total displacement. Their waterline armor belt was 305 to 229 millimetres (12 to 9 in) thick; below it was a strake of 102 mm (4 in) armor. The deck armor ranged in thickness from 32 to 51 mm (1.3 to 2.0 in). The turrets were protected with an armor thickness of 279.4 mm (11.0 in) on the face, 228.6 mm (9.0 in) on the sides, and 114.5 mm (4.51 in) on the roof. The barbettes of the turrets were protected by armor 305 mm thick, while the casemates of the 152 mm guns were protected by 152 mm armor plates. The sides of the conning tower were 351 millimetres (13.8 in) thick. Additionally, the vessels contained 737 watertight compartments (574 underneath the armor deck, 163 above) to preserve buoyancy in the event of battle damage.

During their reconstruction, the armor of the battleships was substantially upgraded. Their deck armor was increased to a maximum thickness of 114 mm (4.5 in), and a longitudinal bulkhead of 76 mm (3.0 in) of high-tensile steel was added to improve the underwater protection. This brought the total armor tonnage up to 12,199 long tons (12,395 t), approximately 31% of the total displacement of the Fusō class. Even after these improvements, the armor was still incapable of withstanding 14-inch shells.

### Aircraft

Yamashiro was briefly fitted with an aircraft flying-off platform on Turret No. 2 in 1922. She successfully launched Gloster Sparrowhawk and Sopwith Camel fighters from it, becoming the first Japanese ship to launch aircraft. When she was modernized in the 1930s, a catapult and a collapsible crane were fitted on the stern, and both ships were equipped to operate three floatplanes, although no hangar was provided. The initial Nakajima E4N2 biplanes were replaced by Nakajima E8N2 biplanes in 1938 and then by Mitsubishi F1M biplanes from 1942 on.

### Fire control and sensors

When completed in 1915, the ships had two 3.5-meter (11 ft 6 in) and two 1.5-meter (4 ft 11 in) rangefinders in the forward superstructure, a 4.5-meter (14 ft 9 in) rangefinder on the roof of Turret No. 2, and 4.5-meter rangefinders in Turrets 3, 4, and 5. In late 1917 a fire-control director was installed on a platform on the foremast. The 4.5-meter rangefinders were replaced by 8-meter (26 ft 3 in) instruments in 1923. During Fusō's first modernization, four directors for the 12.7 cm AA guns were added, one on each side of the fore and aft superstructures, and an eight-meter rangefinder was installed at the top of the pagoda mast. This was replaced by a 10-meter (32 ft 10 in) rangefinder during 1938. At the same time, the two 3.5-meter rangefinders on the forward superstructure were replaced by directors for the 25 mm AA guns. Additional 25 mm directors were installed on platforms on each side of the funnel.

While the ships were in drydock in July 1943, Type 21 air search radar was installed on the roof of the 10-meter rangefinder at the top of the pagoda mast. In August 1944, two Type 22 surface search radar units were installed on the pagoda mast and two Type 13 early warning radar units were fitted. Yamashiro mounted hers on the mainmast, while Fusō was the only Japanese battleship to mount radar on her funnel.

## Ships

Two advanced versions of the class were planned, but the final design differed so markedly from Fusō's that they became the Ise class. When she was completed in 1915, Fusō was considered the first modern battleship of the Japanese Navy. She outclassed her American counterparts of the New York class in firepower and speed, and was considered the "most powerfully armed battleship in the world". Despite extensive modernization in the 1930s, both battleships were considered obsolescent by the commencement of World War II. Following the loss of much of Japan's aircraft carrier fleet by 1943, a proposal was floated that would have converted both vessels into hybrid battleship-carriers. Work was scheduled to commence in June 1943, but the plan was cancelled and the two Ise-class battleships were converted instead.

## Service

Fusō was commissioned on 8 November 1915 and assigned to the 1st Division of the 1st Fleet on 13 December. The ship did not take part in any combat during World War I, as there were no longer any forces of the Central Powers in Asia by the time she was completed. She served as the flagship of the 1st Division during 1917 and 1918, and patrolled off the coast of China during that time. The ship aided survivors of the Great Kanto Earthquake between 9 and 22 September 1923. In the 1920s, Fusō conducted training off the coast of China and was often placed in reserve. After assignment as a training ship in 1936 and 1937, she briefly operated in Chinese waters in early 1939.

Yamashiro was completed on 31 March 1917 and assigned to the 1st Division of the 1st Fleet in 1917–18, though she had no combat role in World War I. Like her sister, she patrolled off the coast of China during the war and assisted during the Great Kanto Earthquake. Little detailed information is available about her activities during the 1920s, although she did make a port visit to Port Arthur, China, on 5 April 1925 and also conducted training off the coast of China. Yamashiro became flagship of the Combined Fleet in 1935. In early 1941, the ship experimentally launched radio-controlled Kawanishi E7K2 floatplanes.

### World War II

In April and May 1941, Fusō and Yamashiro were attached to the 2nd Division of the 1st Fleet, but the two ships spent most of the war around Japan, mostly at the anchorage at Hashirajima in Hiroshima Bay. When the war started for Japan on 8 December, the division sortied from Hashirajima to the Bonin Islands as distant support for the 1st Air Fleet attacking Pearl Harbor, and returned six days later. On 18 April 1942, they pursued but did not catch the American carrier force that had launched the Doolittle Raid. Commanded by Vice-Admiral Shirō Takasu, the division set sail with the Aleutian Support Group on 28 May, at the same time that most of the Imperial Fleet began an attack on Midway Island (Operation MI).

Afterwards, Yamashiro returned to home waters, where she stayed until August 1943; the next month, she became a training ship for midshipmen. In July 1943, Yamashiro was at the Yokosuka drydock, then was briefly assigned as a training ship on 15 September before loading troops on 13 October bound for Truk Naval Base, arriving on the 20th. She sailed for Japan on 31 October. On 8 November, the submarine USS Halibut fired torpedoes at Junyo that missed, but hit Yamashiro with a torpedo that failed to detonate. Returning to Japanese waters, Yamashiro resumed her training duties.

During the US invasion of Saipan in June 1944, Japanese troop ships attempting to reinforce the defenses were sunk by submarines. Shigenori Kami, chief of operations of the Navy Staff, volunteered to command Yamashiro to carry troops and equipment to Saipan. If the ship actually reached the island, he intended to deliberately beach the ship before it could be sunk and to use its artillery to defend the island. After Ryūnosuke Kusaka, Chief of Staff of the Combined Fleet, also volunteered to go, Prime Minister Hideki Tōjō approved the plan, known as Operation Y-GO, but the operation was cancelled after the decisive defeat in the Battle of the Philippine Sea on 19 and 20 June.

Fusō was assigned to the Imperial Japanese Naval Academy at Etajima, Hiroshima, for use as a training ship between 15 November 1942 and 15 January 1943. On 8 June, she rescued 353 survivors from Mutsu when that ship exploded at Hashirajima. After carrying supplies to Truk Naval Base in August, Fusō made for Eniwetok two months later to be in a position to intercept an anticipated attack, returning to Truk on October 26. She arrived on 21 February at Lingga Island, and was employed there as a training ship, before refitting at Singapore between 13 and 27 April and returning to Lingga. She was transferred to Tawi-Tawi on 11 May, and provided cover for the abortive attempts to reinforce Biak Island at the end of the month. Fusō sailed to Tarakan Island off Borneo to refuel in early July before returning to Japan, escaping an attack by the submarine USS Pomfret. She was refitted in early August at Kure.

Both ships were transferred to Battleship Division 2 of the 2nd Fleet on 10 September. Yamashiro and Fusō alternated in the role of division flagship under Vice Admiral Shōji Nishimura. They departed Kure on 23 September for Lingga Island, carrying the Army's 25th Independent Mixed Regiment, and escaped an attack by the submarine USS Plaice the next day. They arrived on 4 October, then transferred to Brunei to offload their troops and refuel in preparation for Operation Shō-Gō, the attempt to destroy the American fleet conducting the invasion of Leyte.

#### Battle of Surigao Strait

Nishimura's "Southern Force" left Brunei at 15:30 on 22 October 1944, heading east into the Sulu Sea and then to the northeast into the Mindanao Sea. Intending to join Vice-Admiral Takeo Kurita's force in Leyte Gulf, they passed west of Mindanao Island into Surigao Strait, where they met a large force of battleships, cruisers and destroyers lying in wait. The Battle of Surigao Strait would become the southernmost action in the Battle of Leyte Gulf.

At 09:08 on 24 October, Yamashiro, Fusō and the heavy cruiser Mogami spotted a group of 27 planes, including Grumman TBF Avenger torpedo bombers and Curtiss SB2C Helldiver dive bombers escorted by Grumman F6F Hellcat fighters, that had been launched from the carrier Enterprise. Around 20 sailors on Yamashiro were killed by strafing and rocket attacks. Fusō's catapult and both floatplanes were destroyed, and another bomb hit the ship near Turret No. 2 and penetrated the decks, killing everyone in No. 1 secondary battery.

Nishimura issued a telegram to Admiral Soemu Toyoda at 20:13: "It is my plan to charge into Leyte Gulf to [reach] a point off Dulag at 04:00 hours on the 25th." At 22:52, his force spotted three or four Motor Torpedo Boats and opened fire, damaging PT-130 and PT-152 and forcing all of them to retreat before they could launch their torpedoes.

One or two torpedoes, possibly fired by the destroyer Melvin, hit Fusō amidships on the starboard side at 03:09 on the 25th; she listed to starboard, slowed down, and fell out of formation. Some Japanese and American eyewitnesses later claimed that Fusō broke in half, and that both halves remained afloat and burning for an hour, but they specifically mentioned only the size of the fire on the water, and not any details of the ship. Historian John Toland agreed in 1970 that Fusō had broken in two, but according to historian Anthony Tully in 2009, "Fuso was torpedoed, and as a result of progressive flooding, upended and capsized within forty minutes." She sank between 03:38 and 03:50; only a few dozen men survived her rapid descent and massive oil fire, and only ten reached shore.

At 03:52, Yamashiro was attacked by a large formation to the north commanded by Rear Admiral Jesse Oldendorf. First came 6- and 8-inch (200 mm) shells from a line of eight cruisers, then 14-inch (360 mm) and 16-inch (410 mm) shells from a line of six battleships. The main bombardment lasted 18 minutes, and Yamashiro was the only target for seven minutes. The first rounds hit the forecastle and pagoda mast, and soon the entire battleship appeared to be ablaze. Yamashiro's two forward turrets targeted her assailants, and the secondary armament targeted the American destroyers plaguing Mogami and the destroyer Asagumo. There was a big explosion at 04:04, possibly from one of the middle turrets. She was hit between 04:03 and 04:09 near the starboard engine room by a torpedo, and Nishimura wired to Kurita: "We proceed till totally annihilated. I have definitely accomplished my mission as pre-arranged. Please rest assured." At the same time, Oldendorf issued a cease-fire order to the entire formation after hearing that the destroyer Albert W. Grant was taking friendly fire, and the Japanese ships also ceased fire.

Yamashiro increased speed, but she had been hit by two to four torpedoes, and after two more torpedo hits near the starboard engine room, she was listing 45 degrees to port. Shinoda gave the command to abandon ship, but neither he nor Nishimura made any attempt to leave the conning tower as the ship capsized within five minutes and quickly sank, stern first, vanishing from radar between 04:19 and 04:21. Only 10 crewmembers of the estimated 1,636 officers and crew on board survived.

Imperial Japanese Battleship class


Wisbech Grammar School

Wisbech Grammar School is an 11–18 mixed, Church of England, private day school and sixth form in Wisbech, Isle of Ely, Cambridgeshire, England. Founded by the Guild of the Holy Trinity in 1379, it is one of the oldest schools in the country.

Chartered by Edward VI in 1549 as a grammar school for boys, for much of its history it offered a largely classical curriculum of Greek, Latin and arithmetic under the governance of the Wisbech Corporation. The school has moved premises several times since its foundation, being based in St Peter's Church, the old guildhall in Hill Street and on South Brink before merging with the Wisbech High School for Girls in 1970 at the present site on North Brink.

For much of the 20th century, it was a non-fee paying voluntary-aided school, but following LEA plans to remove this status and merge the Grammar School with two nearby secondary modern schools, the governors took the decision to become fully independent in 1983. Now a fee-paying day school, pupils aged 4 to 18 attend from the three counties of Cambridgeshire, Norfolk and Lincolnshire. Following the closure of the nearby St Audrey's Convent School, a significant feeder for the senior school, a new junior and infant preparatory school was opened in 1997, now known as Magdalene House.

Entry to the senior school at age 11 is based on a competitive examination. Pupils are also admitted at later stages, including sixth form. Pupils generally take nine General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) examinations in Year Eleven (aged 15–16), and they have a choice of three, four or five A-levels in the sixth form. The majority of students go on to higher education following the completion of their A-levels at the end of Year Thirteen (aged 17–18).

## History

### Early history

Although the school has moved location on several occasions, each of its former buildings is still in existence. The school was founded by the Guild of the Holy Trinity in 1379 above the south porch of St Peter's Church. The Guild was a powerful force in the later Middle Ages. The historical name "Schola Sanctae Trinitatis De Wysbech" is still used on the school's crest, which is derived from the seal of the Wisbech Corporation (itself based on the former Guild seal) and features the seated figures of St Peter and St Paul. The first record of a schoolmaster dates from 1407 when one Maurice Plank was given leave to study at Cambridge University for two terms on the understanding that he would appoint an usher to teach in his absence.

Soon after foundation, the school moved to the Guildhall in Hill Street. A record from 1446 details how master Jacob Creffen was granted leave by the Bishop of Ely to collect an "adequate salary" from each scholar according to the "praiseworthy, ancient and approved custom".

Following the English reformation, the Guild of the Holy Trinity was dissolved and replaced by the Wisbech Corporation. The school was renamed and re-established by King Edward VI in 1549, who gave the school a charter "for the instruction of youth in grammatical knowledge and polite literature". The charter is still in existence, and is currently held by the Wisbech Museum. The same year, land was given for the construction of a school house next to the Guildhall building. After the Restoration of Charles II, the school's charter was renewed with the stipulation that the Capital Burgesses be given the choice of schoolmaster and that the Bishop of Ely "forever shall have the right of visitation, reformation, and correction of the schoolmaster, as of the school aforesaid". In 1638 a benefactor, William Holmes, gave £400 to the burgesses of Wisbech to be invested in land, and the rest applied for the maintenance of two scholars at Magdalene College, Cambridge. In his will of 1656 Holmes directed that the whole yearly income of his 46-acre estate in Holbeach, Lincolnshire be paid yearly towards the maintenance of the scholars and the endowment of the school. Other land and property had been donated to the school in the wills of Thomas Parkes in 1628 and John Crane in 1651. Crane's estate included land in Fleet, Lincolnshire and an inn on Market Hill called the Black Bull.

In 1793, property developer Joseph Medworth purchased the site of Wisbech Castle, including John Thurloe's 1660 mansion (supposedly in a very poor condition) and the land surrounding it from the See of Ely, building the Georgian Circus along the bailey walls. As part of his scheme, in 1811 he tried to persuade the corporation to purchase the mansion and demolish the Old Grammar School building in Ship Street (now Hill Street) with the intention of building a new street through to the market place. The Corporation refused (it is usually assumed that the other burgesses intended to purchase the mansion for the same purpose after Medworth's death at a reduced price). As a result, Medworth demolished Thurloe's mansion and erected the present Wisbech Castle building in 1816.

An 1868 inspection by Henry Richmond of the Schools Inquiry Commission notes that the school was in a poor state of repair; the school once had many boarders, but this was no longer possible because the largest dormitory needed extensive repairs. As a result, attendance had fallen from 60 to 22 scholars. Richmond records that the upper boys were reading Cicero, and their knowledge of Latin grammar was "satisfactory". He also records the teaching of Greek, algebra, and English language, noting that French was taught as an extra. The inspector suggests that the reason for its decline may have been a nearby commercial school, and hints that the feeling in the town was that the largely Classical curriculum was "irrelevant". He also implies that the state of the building may have been the result of differences between the headmaster and the corporation.

The school was reconstituted in 1878. The school continued to use the former guildhall site in Hill Street until 1898, by which stage the medieval building was much altered and in a dilapidated condition. At this point, the school moved to an 18th-century house on South Brink. A fundraising campaign was launched to pay for the house, but after insufficient funds were donated, the cost of purchase was met by Alexander, Baron Peckover. The house and its grounds was originally intended to be the headmaster's residence and provide lodgings for a few boarders, but soon expanded to accommodate the entire school with the construction of classrooms and a hall. The central block of the 18th-century town house was used as a panelled library. An unusual feature of the old town house is the cupola on the roof, evidence of the town's sea-based prosperity. The new building included spacious school-room, class-rooms, laboratories and workshop, all furnished in a modern manner and was formally opened on 20 January 1898 and the key presented to the Headmaster Mr A.W.Poyser.

In his 1939 history of the school, headmaster H. Lawrence White opines that the purchase of this 18th-century house was a "grave mistake", as it was "constantly needing repairs" and was "difficult to warm". He suggests that for the eventual price of conversion, a purpose-built school would have been a more satisfactory decision. Initial plans to build a dormitory for boarding pupils were scrapped, with a physics laboratory being constructed instead, effectively ending the tradition of boarding scholars. The Education Act 1902 brought the school under the control of the Isle of Ely local education authority as a voluntary aided school. By 1917, the boys' Grammar School had 64 pupils attending. Numbers had been swelled by an influx of boys from the Barton House School, a small private school which had closed in 1913.

### Modern history

The 1902 Education Act also made it a legal requirement for the County Council to provide an equal educational opportunity for girls. A conference was held in October 1903 to discuss the founding of a girls' school, and by January 1905 Wisbech High School for Girls was established in Harecroft House on the North Brink. The house had been donated on a long-term lease for the purpose by Baron Peckover's family. Harecroft House had been built in 1844 by Algernon Peckover, and his descendants lived in the house until the death of Susannah Peckover in 1903, after which it was left vacant. The first headmistress was Beatrice Sparks, who was the first woman to complete the Oxford Tripos in mathematics. New schoolrooms were added to the High School in 1906, 1913, 1922 and 1936, when a mixed-use gymnasium and hall was constructed. This hall was, until recently, used as the school dining room and is now the school's library. Originally, the High School was able to take boarders, which continued until after World War II.

The boys' school continued to grow throughout the 20th century. 160 former pupils fought in World War I, of whom eleven were decorated and nine "mentioned in dispatches". Nineteen former pupils were killed in action. During World War II, 272 boys and 26 staff from the Stationers' Company's School in London were evacuated to Wisbech, where they were billeted with local families and shared premises with the Grammar School for teaching.

From 1936 to 1959, the Chairman of the governors of the boys' school was the local Liberal politician Alderman John W. Payne J.P., who was also, concurrently, Chairman of the Isle of Ely County Council Education Committee. The school came under Cambridgeshire and Isle of Ely LEA when the two councils merged in 1965. Both the Grammar School and High School co-existed as voluntary aided schools until 1970 when they merged to become co-educational, with the Grammar School moving into the North Brink High School site under headmaster Dr. D.S. Anderson. Relations between the schools had always been close; the amalgamation had been planned for some time, and a number of new laboratories and classrooms had already been under construction on the North Brink site before the two schools merged. The school magazine Riverline was first published in 1971.

The school came under Cambridgeshire County Council LEA when the councils merged in 1974.

In the late 1970s, the local LEA and the local Member of Parliament, Clement Freud, were critical of the education system in Wisbech. At the time, entry to the co-educational Grammar School was at age 13, meaning that at age 11, all pupils attended the comprehensive single sex Queen's Girls' and Queen's Boys' Schools until an eleven-plus-style examination was taken by all pupils. At this point, academically able pupils were given the opportunity to move to the selective mixed-sex grammar school, with other children staying within the two secondary modern schools.

Plans to merge the grammar school with the two secondary modern establishments to form a comprehensive school were resisted by the Grammar School's governors; in a voluntary-aided school, the local education authority was responsible for its finances, but the governors and headmaster had autonomy over all other school policy. As a result of the governors' refusal, the LEA ceased to maintain the school, which became legally independent on 1 September 1983. The separate Queen's Schools, meanwhile, were merged to become a co-educational comprehensive school, this became the Thomas Clarkson Academy.

Soon after it became independent, the Grammar School lowered its entry age to 11 and joined the Assisted Places Scheme, a governmental scheme instigated in 1980 which allowed pupils who could not afford to go to fee-paying independent schools a free or subsidised place if they were within the top 10–15% of applicants in the school's entrance examination. By 1994, 53% of the Grammar School's pupils held assisted places, the highest proportion of any school in the scheme.

In 1991, a major extension to the school site added 19 classrooms, four laboratories, two computer rooms, a sports hall and library. The former gymnasium was rebuilt and extended to become the Russell Hall, the senior school assembly hall and theatrical stage. Following the abolition of the Assisted Places Scheme in 1997, the school instituted a system of means tested bursaries known as governors' assisted places.

A performing arts centre, the Dwight Centre, was completed in April 2003 with facilities for English and music teaching, drama and music technology. The 2010s saw a new sixth form centre (the Hazel Centre), the construction of a new astroturf pitch and a new refectory.

In 2019, the school re-introduced boarding with the opening of two International Boarding Houses. Boarders from China first attended the school from September 2019. In 2020 the school, but not the buildings , were taken on by Access Education, an Anglo/Chinese body which also runs Thetford Grammar School and Brighton College amongst other schools. A new charity, under a board of trustees, was proposed in 2020 to oversee the freehold of the school and its associated buildings and land.

## Admission and fees

The main senior school entry is at age 11 by a competitive examination. Pupils can also enter at second, third and fourth form levels. Offers of sixth form places are made on the basis of interview and a report. In 2018, the junior school had 141 pupils, the senior school had 377 students, of whom 86 were in the sixth form, with roughly equal numbers of boys and girls.

2019-2020 Senior school fees were £4,579 per term, with means tested bursaries available at Key Stages 3, 4 and 5 known as governors' assisted places. These are awarded following a review of parental household finances; family income, assets and expenditure, and are reviewed on an annual basis by the school.

The school has a wide catchment area encompassing King's Lynn, Peterborough, Whittlesey, March, Chatteris, Hunstanton and Long Sutton. School buses run from a number of these places, visiting villages en route, and there are late buses to most destinations for pupils involved in after-school activities.

## Curriculum

The school year is divided into three terms, with a five-day week (Monday to Friday). The school day is divided into eight periods of 40 minutes, with morning and lunch breaks.

Pupils generally take nine General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) subjects in Year Eleven (aged 15–16), with compulsory maths, English, a language, humanity and science subject. Other subjects offered include art, music, resistant materials technology, food and nutrition, textiles, physics, chemistry, biology, French, German, Spanish, history and geography. Sixth form students have a choice of three, four or five A-levels from a choice of 24 subjects. A 2009 Independent Schools Inspectorate report noted that GCSE and A-level results were "well above the national average". In 2010, the number of pupils achieving the Level 2 threshold (equivalent to five GCSEs at grades A\* to C including English and maths GCSEs) was listed as the second highest in the Cambridgeshire LEA with a 99% pass rate. At AS and A2 levels, the school was listed as sixth in Cambridgeshire, with an average of 860.9 points. The 2014 Independent School Inspectorate report listed four 'Recommendations for further improvement'. The majority of students go on to higher education following the completion of their A-levels at the end of Year Thirteen (aged 17–18).

### Extra-curricular activities

After school and during lunch breaks, the school runs a large number of staff-led activities, clubs and societies including archery, gardening, philosophy, electronics and photography. The Music Department also has rehearsals for the school orchestra, chamber choir, wind band and brass ensemble amongst other ensembles. Two-thirds of the student body enter the Maths Challenge competition, and the mathematics department also runs a regular maths help club.

The school stages theatrical productions regularly, either in the Russell Hall or the Dwight Centre drama studio. Recent productions include She Stoops to Conquer, The Recruiting Officer, My Fair Lady, Amadeus, The Duchess of Malfi, Pride and Prejudice, Oh, What a Lovely War! and Twelfth Night. Drama and Theatre Studies is now an A-Level option. The school publishes two periodicals: Riverline, a yearly school review magazine which is largely written by students, and The Wisbechian, a shorter newsletter which is issued at the school Speech Day in October.

Pupils participate in various stages of The Duke of Edinburgh's Award, and the school runs expeditions to a variety of locations in the Lake District, Snowdonia and the Yorkshire Dales. The school has a long-running exchange scheme with the Willibrord Gymnasium in Emmerich in North Germany, as well as a château trip for second formers and a study visit to France. Lower sixth formers can participate in the Young Enterprise scheme, and in 2010 the school companies were awarded 1st and 2nd "Best Company" in the Peterborough region and second in the regional finals. The school's design department reached the national finals of the Greenpower competition to design and build an electric racing car for the third year in a row with their car "Twin Cambs" in 2010.

Sport is played at the school, and this rotates on a termly basis with rugby, hockey and cricket for boys, and hockey, netball, cricket and rounders for girls. The sports teams compete against similar schools from Cambridgeshire, Lincolnshire and Norfolk. Athletics and indoor sports are usually played jointly.

## Uniform

The school has a strict uniform policy of blazers, shirts and ties for boys, and blazers, blouses and skirts for girls in the first five years. Sixth form students wear a different uniform more akin to a business suit.

## Houses

### Current Houses

The school has four houses, named after significant figures in the history of the pre-merger schools.

The school houses compete in a variety of academic, musical and sporting settings. House colours are awarded for service to the house, half-colours for small contributions (a badge) and full-colours for large contributions (a tie for boys, badge for girls). School colours can also be awarded for service to the school as a whole.

### House history

The present school houses are an amalgamation of houses from the boys' Grammar and girls' High schools; in 1971, the houses were named Parke-Southwell, Peckover-Crane, Clarkson-Dennis and Holmes-Sparks. Thomas Parke and John Crane were 17th-century benefactors of the Grammar school, John Dennis was a Wisbech solicitor who was a governor of the Girls' High School between 1904–1932 and Alfred Southwell was mayor of Wisbech in 1903, who chaired the committee formed to set up the school and was subsequently the first chairman of the governors. The Southwell family, incidentally, once owned Bevis Hall, the manor in Wisbech St Mary which once held jurisdiction over the land on North Brink on which Harecroft House is sited. Beatrice M Sparks MA (Oxon) was the first headmistress of Wisbech High School, she left in 1913 and was appointed principle of Cheltenham Ladies College in 1922.

## Notable staff

- John Richardson Major, Master of the school 1826–1831
- Arthur William Poyser MA, Headmaster of the school and author. Books published by Longman included Magnetism and Electricity, A Manual for Students in Advanced Classes 1901, Magnetism and Electricity, Stage One (1889) and Magnetism and Electricity, Stage Two (1904).
- John Muriel (1909–1975), born in Hadleigh, Suffolk, aka as John St Clair Muriel, John Lindsey or Simon Dewes, was an author and teacher. Novels, autobiographies and short stories include: Molten Ember (1930), Voice of One, Still Eastward Bound (1940), Suffolk Childhood (1959), Essex Days (1960) and When All the World was Young (1961). One of his pupils was John Gordon.

## Notable Old Grammarians

Former pupils are now known as "Old Grammarians" (formerly "Wisbech Old Grammarians"). The school has a number of notable alumni. The earliest recorded alumnus is Thomas Herring (1693–1757), who was Archbishop of Canterbury between 1747 and 1757. Perhaps the most famous alumnus is the abolitionist, Thomas Clarkson (1760–1846), whose father, John, was headmaster at the school. His essay on slavery and subsequent campaigning led to the foundation of the Committee for the Abolition of the Slave Trade and the passage of the Slave Trade Act of 1807, which ended British trade in slaves. Thomas Clarkson's younger brother John Clarkson (1764–1828) also attended the school. He subscribed to his brother's abolitionist cause, and became the first governor of the free Sierra Leone colony, founding the country's capital city, Freetown.

Other figures from this era include General Sir Charles Wale (1765–1845), the last British governor of Martinique, and The Hon. Charles Lindsay (1760–1846), the last Bishop of Kildare.

Victorian composer and organist W. H. Jude (1851–1922) was a prolific lecturer and hymnodist, and opened over 1000 organs across the UK and Australasia during his career. Another composer associated with the school was Peter Fenn (1931–2011), director of music for Anglia Television, who attended the school as an evacuee during World War II. Philip Vassar Hunter (1883–1956) was awarded the CBE for his anti-submarine research in World War I, and in World War II invented the buoyant cable which contributed to the defeat of the magnetic mine. He was later President of the Institution of Electrical Engineers and manager of the British Ice Hockey Association.

Sir Frank Stockdale (1883–1949) was a Holmes Scholar, and during his career as an agriculturalist played a leading part in establishing rubber, tea, and coconut research institutions. He was appointed the first comptroller for development and welfare in the West Indies in 1940, and was co-chairman of the Anglo Caribbean Commission. Brian Hitch (1934–2004), diplomat, was also a Holmes Scholar and was High Commissioner to Malta between 1988 and 1991. Sarah Cowley was British ambassador to Latvia between 2013 and 2017.

Actors from the school include Zara Dawson and Claire Goose.

In sport, George Russell drives for Mercedes in Formula 1, Ali Price plays Rugby Union for the Glasgow Warriors and internationally for Scotland. Fred Hoyles (1923–2004) was Wimbledon tennis referee-in-chief from 1976 to 1982.

Other alumni include author John Gordon (1925-2017), known for his children's novel The Giant Under The Snow; economist Professor Stephen Littlechild, who developed the price-cap system of electricity regulation; Denys Bullard (1912–1994), MP for South West Norfolk, Ray Palma (later known as Ray DaSilva), founder of the Norwich Puppet Theatre; Richard Blakesley, joint inventor of the Kymera wand, which won £200,000 backing on Dragons' Den, Mike Stevens, musical director and record producer and Will Millard, writer, explorer and presenter of BBC2's Hunters of the South Seas.

## Magdalene House

Magdalene House is a 5–11 mixed, private preparatory school and is an integral part of Wisbech Grammar School with which it shares staff and facilities. The school takes its name from Magdalene College, Cambridge.

A junior and infant department opened in September 1997 after the closure of St Audrey's Convent school. St Audrey's was a feeder school, and its closure allowed the then grammar school headmaster, Robert Repper, to transfer most of the teaching staff to the new junior school. The junior and infant school has now become a preparatory school for the senior school. It was retitled as Magdalene House in 2005, a reference to a 17th-century scholarship which allowed two Wisbech Grammar School pupils to study at Magdalene College, Cambridge. There were 177 pupils registered in 2018, of whom 15 were in reception and 136 in years 1 to 6.

School in Cambridgeshire, UK

Educational institutions established in the 14th century

Member schools of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference