Thread by @KadriLiik

So, here comes my naval analyses :)
This is what I can say about cruiser Moskva - and its linkage to yellow skirts of Muhu island. 
A thread:

In 1979, when Moskva was launched, it was called Slava - in honor of the Russian battleship that sunk in Moonsund battle on 17.10.1917.
Only in 1996 was its name changed into Moskva.

wrecksite.eu/wreck.aspx?134…

Slava sunk in shallow waters of Estonia’s West coast, in between Muhu and mainland Estonia. Its 800 of crew seem to have survived. Some in fact came from Muhu, so they just took a boat and went home. Some Russians are said to have settled in nearby Matsalu where they found wives.

Slava’s wreck, though, remained partly above water for a number of years, and became a source of iron and copper for local craftsmen. 

tools.wmflabs.org/geohack/geohac…

But also picric acid. Apparently, this chemical was used to make explosives, but one could also use it to dye fabric, and that’s what the local Muhu women did. The famous yellow Muhu skirts became abundant after WWI, and this was all thanks to Slava.

britannica.com/science/picric…

When I was a child, older Muhu women would casually talk about ‘mine yellow’ (miinikollane) as a color. For a long time I assumed they meant a specific shade of yellow. The idea that they used the actual explosives to dye fabric was just too… fantastic. But that was the case.

So here it is: my Muhu skirt. Made by grandmother/great aunt in 1930s. Self-made from scratch: they grew sheep, cut wool, made fabric, dyed it with ‘mine yellow’, sewed and embroidered. 
Small traces of Slava in my wardrobe.