In a Pinch in Pajamas! (パジャマでピンチ！ Romaji: "Pajama de Pinchi!") is the third episode of Hai-Furi.
The crew of the Harekaze was awakened to the presence of a submarine stalking her. Only through an unlikely ally's help did they manage to survive.
Episode Summary[]
Principal Munetani received a dire message from the Maritime Safety Support Department (MSSD). It stated the agency's intention to seize all of the school's training vessels and sinking any ships at sea that showed resistance if the incident isn't resolved soon.
At this point, the school has lost contact with seven training vessels, including the Musashi and Harekaze. This urged her to seek all available means to ensure the safety of her students--and with haste.
A Captain's Dilemma[]
Faced between returning to school and answering the Musashi's distress call, Akeno urged the latter. Mashiro angrily disagreed, given that the Harekaze was in no condition to fight let alone against a Yamato-class battleship.
Worse, the signal officer Tsugumi Yagi intercepted an area-wide message from the MSSD that prohibited the Harekaze from stopping at any port. This finally convinced Akeno to return to Yokosuka. But as she retired for the night, the thought of Moeka in dire straits troubled her to no end.
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Sonar operator Kaede Marikouji, on the lookout for contacts underwater.
Hide-and-Seek[]
Akeno was awakened to the alert of a strange noise underwater, as reported by the sonar operator Kaede Marikouji. It was later identified as I-201 (hull number H-6201), an I-201-class submarine from Toumai High School, a boys' marine school. The Harekaze tried communicating with Morse code via active sonar, but the submarine perceived it as hostile.
The I-201 fired two torpedoes, which missed and exploded off the Harekaze's stern. The battle eventually became a game of hide-and-seek, with more than an hour passing without either side scoring any hits.
An Unlikely Ally[]
The explosion from another torpedo attack rocked the ship and awakened the boat's pilot, Graf Spee's deputy-captain Wilhelmina Braunschweig Ingenohl Friedeburg. Angrily, she hurried to the bridge, demanding to see the captain of "a collection of amateurs." She pointed out the Harekaze crew's mistake of leaving their lights on in nighttime warfare.
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A frustrated Wilhelmina cringes at the fact that the Harekaze is ill-equipped for anti-submarine warfare.
Despite her suggestions, Wilhelmina is frustrated to hear that the ship has no anti-sub weapons other than a single depth charge. Asked if it has anything that moves underwater, Akeno got the idea of using a paravane.
The paravane was released into the water and loitered until it hit the I-201's superstructure. After this, the I-201 launched a full salvo of four torpedoes but were intercepted by artillery fire.
The submarine began its dive, but Noma saw its periscope before it could slip beneath the waves. Immediately, Mei gave the order to drop the depth charge. The paravane's wire fouled up one of the submarine's propellers, while the depth charge detonated just high enough to force it to surface. The Harekaze made its getaway before a Toumai instructorship could get to the scene.
Conspiracy[]
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Mashiro's new roomie astounded at just how much she loves plushies.
Akeno returned to the sickbay to thank Wilhelmina for her guidance. She also took this time to ask what happened on the Graf Spee.
The ship was en route to join in this year's training exercises with Yokosuka Girls' when it suffered electronics failure. When Wilhelmina went to investigate, the crew suddenly stopped obeying orders and turned hostile. She vowed to return to the Spee and save her crew.
Later, the Harekaze received uplifting news. Principal Munetani ordered all vessels back to school, adding that she won't abandon any of her students.
Trivia[]
- Mashiro's shark plush is an actual item for sale at some IKEA branches. In the spin-off novels, it's named Bruce, an allusion to the shark from Finding Nemo.
- The concept of paravanes used as anti-submarine weapons dates back as early as the First World War, but not exactly as the episode demonstrates. It involves attaching an explosive charge onto a paravane and releasing it into the water, gliding until it makes contact with an enemy submarine.