In another chapter of this book the big passenger boats of the Hamburg-Amerika Linie have been described as the outcome of Ballin’s imaginative brain. This they were indeed, and in many instances it is scarcely possible to say how far the credit for having built them is due to the naval architect, and how far it is due to Ballin. He was profoundly against employing one system throughout, and on accepting the views of one expert exclusively; and this aversion was so pronounced that he objected on principle to the nomination of any technical expert to the Board of his company. The company, he said, is surely going to last longer than a lifetime or two. Besides, it must try to solve the problem of perpetual youth, and therefore it cannot afford to run the risk of staking its fortune on the views held by one single man who is apt to ignore the progress of his science without noticing it. The same dislike of onesidedness induced him to encourage to the best of his capacity a healthy competition among the various shipyards, and to avail himself of the experiences gained not only by the German yards but by their British rivals also. At an early stage of his career close business relations were established between himself and Messrs. Harland and Wolff, of Belfast; and a personal friendship connected him with the owner of that firm, Mr. (now Lord) Pirrie. Acting upon the example set by the White Star Line, Ballin made an agreement with Messrs. Harland and Wolff as early as 1898, by which the latter bound themselves always to keep a slip at the disposal of the Packetfahrt. The reason which prompted Ballin to make this arrangement was, as he explained to the Board of Trustees, that the company’s orders for new construction and repairs had nowhere been carried out more satisfactorily and more cheaply than by the Belfast yard, where all the new vessels ordered were built under a special agreement, i.e. at cost price with a definitely fixed additional percentage representing the profits and certain expenditure incurred by the builders. This arrangement enabled the Packetfahrt to become acquainted with whatever was latest and best in British shipyard production, and, as it were, to acquire models which it could improve upon in German yards after they had been tested on actual service. Some of the best and most important types of vessels which the Packetfahrt has produced owe their origin to this system; and it is only fair to say that it exercised an entirely beneficial influence on the progress of the German shipbuilding industry, the prosperity of which is largely due to the fact that it has profited from the century-old experience gained by the British yards and by British ocean-shipping.

Ballin held the view that, just as the shipbuilding expert had to watch the progress of naval architecture and to make practical application of its results, and just as the merchant had to exploit this progress for the benefit of his business, the shipowner—especially the one who maintains a service of passenger boats—has the special task of making every step in the direction of further advance serviceable to the needs of the passengers. Being himself, as has been pointed out elsewhere, gifted with a strong faculty for appreciating things beautiful, and raising no less high demands as regards the beauty and the comfort of all his surroundings, Ballin constantly endeavoured to make use of all the results of his own observations and of his own experience for the greater comfort of the passengers. Those who saw the finished products of his imagination, the beautifully appointed “floating hotels,” hardly realized how many apparently insignificant details—which, after all, in their entirety make what we call comfort—owe their origin to his own personal suggestions. Each time he made a sea voyage on board a steamer of his own, or of some other company, he brought home with him a number of new ideas, chiefly such as affected technicalities, and matters dealing with the personal comfort of the passengers. Numerous entries in the notebooks which he carried on such occasions are there to serve as illustrations; the following items, for instance, are selected from those which he jotted down, roughly, on a voyage to New York some time in the ’nineties. They speak for themselves, in spite of their sketchiness:

“List of Moselle purveyors wants revision—notices on board to be restricted as much as possible, those which are necessary to be tastefully framed—sailing lists and general regulations to be included in passengers’ lists—state cabin on board Kaiser Friedrich: key, latch, drawer; no room for portmanteaux and trunks; towels too small—Deutschland: soiled linen cupboard too small—stewards Oceanic white jackets—celery glasses—butter dishes too small—large bed pillows—consommÉ cups—playing cards: Packetfahrt complete name of firm—Packetfahrt complete name on Wehber’s wine bottles—toast to be served in a serviette (hot).”

Rough notes such as these were used to serve Ballin as the material underlying the detailed reports and instructions to the company’s servants which he composed during the voyage, so that not even a long sea voyage gave him the unbroken spell of leisure he so badly needed. Indeed, the longer it lasted the more chances did it provide for thoroughly inspecting the practical working of the steamer. Many other reports are in my possession, but the one given will serve to emphasize the meticulous quality of observation he possessed, and how practical was his mind in regard to details of comfort and convenience, and the special climatic needs of different routes.

Even where the peculiar conditions obtaining in tropical climates were concerned—conditions with which he was personally quite unacquainted—he unfailingly discovered any defects that might exist, and also the means by which they could be remedied.

Ballin’s connexion with the Packetfahrt practically coincides with the whole of that period during which the immense progress of modern steamship building from humble beginnings to its present stage of development took place; with the only exception that the North German Lloyd had already, before Ballin joined the Packetfahrt, established its services of fast steamers which were far ahead of those maintained by other shipping companies owing to their punctuality and reliability, and which Ballin then set himself to improve upon and to excel. Apart from this one type of vessel, the science of steamship construction, as seen from our modern point of view, was still in its infancy.

In 1886 the steamships owned by the Hamburg-Amerika Linie were mainly of two different types, viz., those used in the North Atlantic service (principally on the New York route), and those used in the Mexico-West Indies service.

The expansion of the Packetfahrt’s business after Ballin had joined the company, and especially the addition of new services together with the increase in the number of ports of departure and of destination, made it necessary constantly to increase the size and the carrying capacity of the cargo boats, and the size and the speed of the passenger steamers, as well as to improve and to modernize the passenger accommodation on board the latter. All this, of course, considerably added to the cost price of the vessels, so that, as a further consequence, the facilities for loading and discharging them had to be improved and extended. Four principal types of steamers may be distinguished in the development of the company’s fleet, especially of that part of it which was engaged on the North Atlantic route, where the main development took place.

Type One: Fast steamers—twin screws, 18 knots, 8,500 G.R.T.—possessing accommodation for passengers of all classes and provided with comparatively little cargo space, but comfortably and luxuriously appointed throughout. The three leading ideas governing their construction were safety, speed, and comfort; and progress was made to keep abreast of competing lines, until it culminated in the vessels of the “Imperator” class. The Imperator was built in 1913. They were quadruple screw turbine steamers, possessing no fewer than 42 multitubular boilers each, and, as they were of a capacity of 52,000 gross register tons, they were nearly three times the size of the Deutschland.

Type Two: Ships of medium speed and of considerable size, and therefore providing a high standard of comfort for passengers combined with ample facilities for cargo accommodation.

Type Three: Chiefly built as cargo boats, but in such a way that a part of their space could be utilized for the accommodation of a large number of steerage passengers.

Type Four: Cargo steamers without any passenger accommodation.

The difference between the floating palaces of type No. 1 in 1913 and those vessels which the Hamburg-Amerika Linie possessed when Ballin first entered upon his career as a shipping man was like that between day and night. A brief comparison of a few details will be the best means of illustrating the enormous progress achieved within less than the lifetime of a generation. The size of the vessels had increased from 3,000 to more than 50,000 tons; the speed from 14 to nearly 25 knots; the height of the decks from 6½ to 8 feet in the lower decks, whilst that of the upper ones, as far as the social rooms were concerned, amounted to as much as 20 feet. Large portions of the upper decks were reserved for the social rooms, the finest of which—the ball-room—could challenge comparison with almost any similar room in any hotel ashore with respect to its size and to the magnificence of its furnishings and of its decoration. From a technical point of view, too, the construction of such a huge room on board a vessel, which possessed a floor space of 4,800 square feet, and a ceiling unsupported by any columns or pillars of any kind, was an unprecedented achievement. Besides, there were immense dining-rooms for each class, smoking-rooms, ladies’ saloons, a restaurant, a winter garden, a swimming pool, and numerous smaller rooms suitable for the relaxation and amusement of the passengers.

On the older boats the arrangement was that the small cabins were all grouped round the one and only social room on board, so that the occupants of the cabins could hear all that was going on in the social room, and vice versa. The superficial area at the disposal of each passenger was gradually increased from 43 square feet in the double cabins to 172 square feet in the cabins of the Imperator, so that the latter were really no longer mere cabins, but actual rooms. The suites-de-luxe comprised up to twelve rooms, the largest of which covered an area of 247 square feet.

It must not be thought, however, that the first-class passengers were the only ones for whose comfort the company catered. The other classes progressed proportionately in added comfort, space, and social facilities, not excepting the steerage.

But by far the greatest improvements made were those in connexion with the enormous progress of the purely technical side of shipbuilding during the whole period under review. The more the vessels increased in size, the less were they liable to the pitching and rolling motion caused when the weather was rough. Moreover, special appliances, such as bilge keels and bilge tanks, were employed to lessen these movements still more, even when the sea was high. The reciprocating engines gradually gave place to higher types, and later on turbines and oil-engines were also introduced. In addition to the propelling machinery a number of auxiliary engines were used which were of various kinds and for various purposes, such as the ventilation of the cabins and the other rooms, the generation of light, the services in connexion with the personal welfare of the passengers and with their safety whilst on board ship. Instead of single bottoms, double bottoms were used, and the additional safety resulting therefrom was still further enhanced by dividing the space between the two by means of a whole network of partitions. The vessels of the “Imperator” class, indeed, possessed practically a double shell, which formed an effective protection against the danger of collision. The lifeboats increased in size and in number, and their shape and equipment were improved. Emergency lighting stations were arranged which could generate a sufficient amount of electric current if the ordinary supply should break down at any time. The whole vessels were divided into self-contained compartments by water-tight bulkheads, the doors of which could be automatically closed. This division into many compartments proved an effective protection against the risk of fire; but a number of special devices were also adopted to serve the same purpose, e.g. an extensive system of steampipes by which each single room could be rapidly filled with steam, so that the fire could be automatically extinguished. Fire-proof material was used for the walls separating adjacent rooms and cabins, and, not content with all this, the company provided its mammoth liners with an actual fire brigade, the members of which were fully trained for their work. The most important improvements affecting the navigation of the steamers were the introduction of wireless telegraphy apparatus, the gyroscopic compasses, the system of submarine direction indicator signalling, and the substitution of two steering gears instead of one, not to mention a series of minor improvements of all kinds.

The provisioning on board the German steamers was of proverbial excellence, the kitchen arrangements were modelled after those found in the big hotels, and were supplied with all manner of supplementary devices. The huge store rooms were divided into sections for those provisions that were of a perishable nature and for those that were not; and for the former refrigerating rooms were also provided in which the temperature could be regulated according to the nature of the articles.

Perhaps the most interesting development of the various types of steamers is that which type No. 2 has undergone. It originated in Great Britain, whence it was taken over in 1894. The first unit of this type added to the fleet of the Packetfahrt was the Persia, of 5,800 G.R.T., and a speed of 12 knots, built to accommodate a number of cabin and steerage passengers, and to carry a considerable amount of cargo as well. These boats possessed many advantages over similar ones, advantages which were due to their size, their shape, and the loading facilities with which they were equipped. Ballin immediately recognized the good points of this type, and he improved it until the vessels reached a size of 13,000 G.R.T., which still enabled them to travel at a speed of 13 knots. They were twin-screw steamers, and were provided with every safety device known at the time. A still further improvement of this type was represented by the Amerika and the Kaiserin Auguste Victoria, built in 1905 and 1906 respectively, luxuriously equipped throughout; by their large size—they possessed a capacity of very nearly 25,000 G.R.T.—extremely seaworthy, and as they could travel at the rate of 17½ knots, their speed was scarcely inferior to that possessed by the older type of fast steamers. From the point of view of actual remunerativeness they were far superior to the fast steamers, combining, as they did, all the earning possibilities of the passenger and of the cargo vessels.

The development of the types comprising the cargo steamers went hand in hand with the expansion of international trade relations, and with the constant increase in the amount of goods exchanged between the nations. To a certain extent development was limited by the dimensions of the Suez Canal. Still, improvements became possible in this respect too when the depth of the Canal was increased to 27 feet in 1908, 29 feet in 1912, and 30 feet in 1914.

Ballin carefully watched this development, incessantly improving the existing types of his company’s cargo boats, so that they should always meet the growing needs of sea-borne trade, and in some instances even anticipating them, until, when the war broke out, twin screw cargo boats of a capacity of 16,000 tons and possessing a speed of 13 knots were being built for the company.

In a brief outline such as this, it is not possible to enter into details concerning the expansion of the other lines which became affiliated to or otherwise associated with the Packetfahrt in course of time. One special type, however, ought to receive a somewhat more detailed treatment in this connexion, viz., that of the excursion steamers. The running of pleasure cruises, originally nothing but a mere expedient to prevent the express steamers from lying idle during the dead season, gradually became an end in itself. The Northern and Mediterranean cruises were soon followed by others, e.g. those to the West Indies and the pleasure trips round the globe. Two special steamers, the Prinzessin Victoria Luise, and the somewhat smaller and less sumptuous Meteor, both of them equipped after the style of pleasure yachts, were built when it was found advisable to make this service independent of the fast steamers and the big passenger boats which had also been employed for this purpose. After the loss of the Prinzessin Victoria Luise she was replaced first by a British passenger boat that had been purchased, and then by the Deutschland, specially reconditioned for her new purpose, and renamed Victoria Luise. Both vessels were extremely popular with the international travelling public, and year after year they carried thousands of tourists to countries and places distinguished for the beauty of their natural scenery or for their historical and artistic associations. They were largely instrumental in constantly augmenting the number of those who formed the regular clientÈle of the company.

“Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.” In the realm of shipping it has always been customary for each company to profit by the experience gained and the progress made by its competitors. This applies to the Packetfahrt and its management also; but in their case they have given infinitely more than they have received, and in the whole history of shipping there has never been one single person who has exercised a more stimulating influence on its technical progress than Albert Ballin.