Before World War I, the Hamburg-America Line had the largest merchant fleet in the world - 175 ships, to be exact.  This fleet was topped off by the giant 52,000-ton Imperator, and the even larger Vaterland.  Behind the Hamburg-America Line was Albert Ballin, managing director of the line.  Albert Ballin was highly nationalistic, and felt that size and luxury, not speed, were the bywords of the transatlantic run.  Albert Ballin is seen in the picture at left.

After World War I, Germany was defeated, and Albert Ballin committed suicide.  The firm that he had led slowly began to rebuild after most of its vessels had been sunk or seized.  However, the idea was a different one than during Ballin's time.  This was partly because of new immigration quotas in the United States, which greatly cut the numbers of steerage passengers.  So ocean liner supremacy was put aside, and the focus was now on medium size and economical operations.

The idea for Hamburg-America's rebuilding centered around four ships - two pairs of similar design.  The first two were a far cry from the Imperator, having low, almost squat funnels, and four masts.  A very sharp, "no nonsense" profile, indeed.  The first of these ships was named Albert Ballin.  She was launched on December 16, 1922, at Blohm and Voss, and was ready to sail on July 4, 1923.

Albert Ballin's sister ship was named the Deutschland, which joined the fleet in March 1924, and the other two, the Hamburg and the New York, joined Hamburg-America's fleet in 1926 and 1927, respectively.

The Albert Ballin was definitely comfortable, if not luxurious.  Her first-class section was comprised of six decks, and contained tennis courts, an open-air bowling alley (for a time), an à la carte grill room which required a reservation fee, a glass-enclosed promenade, a smoking room, a writing room, a ladies' parlor, a social hall, a verandah cafe, a tiled indoor swimming pool with adjoining gymnasium, as well as an elevator, gift shop, and florist.  First class also contained four deluxe suites, which each contained a foyer, sitting room, baggage room, and a full bath.  Thirty special cabins had full bedrooms and bathrooms, but the remainder had no private facilities, and had no hot and cold running water.  Second class was also comfortable, being balanced by a variety of public rooms.  However, third class was quite spartan - the rooms were blandly decorated, and the cabins were designed with lots of occupants in mind.

One aspect of the Albert Ballin's design, however, greatly contributed to her popularity.  This is that she had Foerster stability bulges extending the full length of the ship just above the waterline.  Paired with hydrostatic valves, the bulges were claimed to reduce rolling to within five sixteenths of normal.  Furthermore, she also had Frahm anti-roll tanks, which was used on several pre-war German liners.  As a result of all this, the "Famous Four", as the Albert Ballin and her sisters were called, were said to be the steadiest liners on the Atlantic.

The Hamburg-America line was constantly seeking to improve the Albert Ballin, and as a result of this, she underwent a high number of alterations, much more than most liners.  In 1924-1925, her funnels were raised.  The bridge was fitted with a glass enclosure in 1927.  In 1930, she returned to Blohm and Voss and had new boilers installed that gave her a service speed of 19.5 knots, her funnels were reduced in height, and the bridge front was altered again.  In 1934, her most extensive changes were made, as she returned to Blohm and Voss to be lengthened with the insertion of a new fifty-foot section forward, bringing her length to 677 feet.  Her funnels were again raised, and her engines were adjusted to make her go 21.5 knots.  Her accommodation was also adjusted.  However, in this alteration, misfortune struck, as she accidentally rammed and sank North German Lloyd's tugboat Merkur while being repositioned at the shipyard.  Seven of the tug's crew were lost.

In the fall of 1935, the Albert Ballin was the subject of an unpleasant dispute.  The Nazi movement was growing in leaps and bounds, and they noted that the ship was named for a person, who, though honorable and patriotic, was nonetheless Jewish, and they pressed for a name change.  The Hamburg-America line initially resisted, but then finally gave in on advice from Berlin.  On October 1, she was no longer Albert Ballin.