According to maritime history expert Arnold Kludas, SS "Burdigala" was converted at the Blohm & Voss shipyards in Hamburg. In addition to the changes done in the layout and allocation of lodging space, adjustments were also made to the basic ship systems, such as fitting of new boilers. Moreover, the ship was painted white with Sud- Atlantique's coat of arms decorating the funnels- a red cock, symbol of ancient Gaul, since the Latin name for the cock is the same as the name for Gaul, Gallus. The extensive repairs and upgrading of SS "Kaiser Friedrich" into SS "Burdigala" had taken longer than initially planned resulting in delayed delivery of the ship. Which was supposed to become operational on 22 September 1912. Realizing that under the circumstances Sud-Atlantique would not be able to fulfill the terms of the contract signed with the French Government, decided to charter the SS Atlantique from the Messageries Maritimes, with which the company finally managed to make its first scheduled trip on time. After completion of the restoration work, SS "Burdigala" sailed from Hamburg to Bordeaux, where she was welcomed with great enthusiasm, considering that she was the largest and fastest ship in service at the South Atlantic at the time. She would maintain this honorary title for a whole year. On 26 September 1912, the inclusion of SS "Burdigala" in the fleet of Cie de Navigation Sud-Atlantique was celebrated with a luxurious dinner on board. Nine days later on 5 October, "Burdigala" had set off on its first journey with Buenos Aires as its final destination, flying the flag of Sud-Atlantique on her mast. Although the trip had gone on uneventfully, during its return the ship experienced some mechanical problems which relusted to dry docking for additional repair work as soon as she had arrived in Bordeaux. For the time that the SS "Burdigala" had remained inactive, Cie Sud-Atlantique was forced to replace the ship with the SS "La Gascogne", a ship they had chartered from the French Line. This fact combined with the "Burdigala"s enormous coal consumption, had led the Sud-Atlantique to the conclusion that the relation between the high operation cost of this lavish ship and the earnings derived was not profitable for the company. Nevertheless, Sud-Atlantique had to wait further until the delivery of the new ships they had ordered before being in a position to withdraw the cost-ineffective SS "Burdigala" from its fleet.