Founded in the early years of the19th century, the Wilson Line became the largest privately-owned steamship fleet in the world. Based in Hull, its main trade was to and from Scandinavia and the Baltic States, although the Wilson Line also carried cargoes to the USA, the Mediterranean, and India. By 1919, losses from the fleet were such that the line was put up for sale. The Second World War saw a reduction in fleet size from35 to just9, and the once-lucrative American trade ceased in 1961. In 1991 P&O purchased the Ellerman Group container business and sold the remaining four ships. Every trace of Wilsons, once the largest independent steamship company in the world, had now vanished."