In a Mined Pinch!

***In a Mined Pinch!*** (機雷でピンチ！ *Romaji: "Kirai de Pinchi!"*) is the sixth episode of Hai-Furi.

Following the failed attempt to secure the Musashi, more of Yokosuka Girls' Marine High School's ships "mutinied." Meanwhile, Akeno began doubting her ability to lead.

## Episode Summary

### From Bad to Worse

It has been one bad news after another for Principal Munetani since the start of the incident. Not only have all sixteen ships of the Toumai battle group been crippled, but the school has lost contact with the Kongou-class battleship Hiei, the Takao-class heavy cruiser Chokai, and several other vessels.

The Disaster Management Committee convened on how to deal with the threat. The only ships who could stand toe to toe with the Musashi to a gun, Kure's Yamato and Maizuru's Shinano, wouldn't be ready for many months. Sasebo's Kii was on a voyage on the other side of the world.

Meanwhile, Akeno gave up the chase and returned to the Harekaze. Mashiro's words earlier set in, making her doubt her abilities as captain.

### Kuroki Speaks Out

Rin and Wilhelmina accompanied Akeno to the bath, despite being the Engineering Department's time. The assistant engineer, Kuroki Hiromi, who has been silently distrustful of Akeno from the start, berated her for the mad stunt. Chief engineer Maron Yanagiwara, seeing a drenched Akeno, pulled her in along with Rin and Wilhelmina, stating that her case was an emergency.

Even after the bath, Kuroki continued hounding Akeno, telling her that the safety of her own crew comes first. Wilhelmina assured Akeno that the Musashi's captain may be trying her best to protect the ship and everyone around it.

### The Truth of the Matter

That night, Tsugumi reported a strange electronic anomaly that was messing with the ship's electronics. They traced the source to the sickbay where they saw Minami dissecting the rodent. Another rodent tried to escape, but Isoroku managed to capture it. The ship's electronics went back online.

   Minami explained that the rodent has a genetic structure slightly different from a rat and carries an unknown virus, which she detected in Tama's blood earlier.

Suddenly, the Harekaze shuddered as an old contact mine exploded off her starboard bow.

### Minesweeper

A sonar sweep conducted by Kaede  last night revealed an area of ocean littered with old mines. These were laid by countries during the 20th century to protect their interests at sea. Aspiring to become Blue Mermaids themselves, the crew organized a minesweeping operation.

Using the rapid fire guns, Mei and Tama fired on the mines on the surface. Meanwhile, Kayoko and Ritsuko towed paravanes with cutting wires to cut the wires holding the underwater mines.

The cutting went smoothly until the skippers hit an underwater mine. Against Mashiro's advice, Akeno left with Rin and rescued them. A feast was held to celebrate the occasion and the cooks tried to prepare german food, so Wilhelmina is happy.

### Post-Credits

In the sickbay, Minami succeeded in creating an antibody for the virus but needed to be tested first. It seemed as if Minami had chosen Hime to be her test subject, seeing as Momo was restraining her. Instead, the good doctor injected the antibody on herself, telling the two to stop her should something happen.

## Trivia

* This is one of two episodes (the other being Mina in a Pinch!) with post-credit scenes.
* Some information about the German dishes presented at the food fest:
	+ While eisbein and schweinshaxe both use ham hocks, eisbein is normally pickled and boiled whereas schweinshaxe is roasted. Schweinshaxe is a traditional german food, Eisbein not.
	+ Sauerkraut involves allowing lactic acid bacteria growing on the cabbage leaves to ferment the cabbage for several months, as opposed to adding pickling agents like vinegar and brine.
	+ Although the term "schnitzel" means "cutlet" in German, schnitzel is usually made with veal whereas a cutlet is made with any kind of meat. Also, schnitzel is somewhat bigger than a normal cutlet. A Schnitzel isn't a german food. It's more an austrian food, known as Wiener Schnitzel.
	+ Frikadeller is a dish of minced meat, rolled into a ball and slightly flattened. Its appearance somewhat resembles a hamburger but a lot smaller. The hamburger's origins can be traced in the United States, where merchants brought cows from Hamburg to be made into the patties known and loved today.
	+ Eintopf can either refer to a stew of just about every conceivable ingredient or the manner of cooking as such.

* Shinano was originally conceived as the third Yamato-class battleship. Due to evolving naval tactics and the loss of four fleet carriers at the Battle of Midway, she was converted into a carrier. She was sunk by a U.S. submarine days after being commissioned.
* The episode also mentioned the battleship Kii out on open waters. The Kii-class was canceled following the ratification of the Washington Naval Treaty in 1922.
* One of the Principal Munetani's staff mentioned the ship Akagi. While popularly known as an aircraft carrier, prior to the Washington Naval Treaty it was laid down as an Amagi-class battlecruiser. Construction was never finished following the treaty.