Norddeutscher Lloyd first ordered the SS Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse with the goal of breaking the North Atlantic speed record (then held by the Cunard Line's RMS Lucania), thereby claiming the Blue Riband for Germany.

In addition to these features, Kaiser Friedrich (like some other German steamers of her time) was designed and constructed to operate as an armed merchant cruiser in the event of war, being intended to serve as an ancillary unit in the Kaiserliche Marine.

Only after F. Schichau had confirmed that he would significantly improve the ship's speed and performance did the NDL agree to include the Kaiser Friedrich in its fleet, planning its first transatlantic voyage from Bremerhaven to Southampton and from there onward to New York City.

On 7 June 1898, the SS Kaiser Friedrich began its sea journey from Bremen to Southampton under the helm of an experienced NDL captain, Ludwig A. Störmer.

The cause of mechanical problems was later considered by ship specialists to be overheating of bearings or as it was formally stated in The Marine Engineer Magazine "the failure of the slide valves to work smoothly and to the breakage of studs on the air pump brackets, so that a proper vacuum could not be maintained".

The result was disastrous: it took 7 days, 10 hours and 15 minutes for the SS Kaiser Friedrich to cover the classic route from Southampton to Sandy Hook, New York City, where it arrived on 16 June 1898.

Further hours of delay were added to its already poor time count, since the ship had to stay outside the New York City harbor and wait for entry allowance because of the mines that were placed to guard the harbour after the outbreak of the Spanish–American War in April 1898.

The announcement by F. Schichau Shipyards that "the Kaiser Friedrich will make its next journeys under the flag of HAPAG (Hamburg America Line)" marked the beginning of the second chapter of later to be renamed SS Burdigala's history.

This sale created a gap in the company's transatlantic fleet at a time when business was thriving, as the second wave of mass immigration to America had reached its peak.

During the winter 1899/1900, Kaiser Friedrich remained in Hamburg where repairs were undertaken by the well-known shipyards of Blohm & Voss, mainly for increasing the number of cabin passengers, as well as its cargo capacity.

Her arrival coincided with the great fire of Hoboken during which many of NDL's ships were destroyed, among them SS Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse, which was not completely burned but had suffered major damages.

In July 1900, the eagerly awaited SS Deutschland, built by the A.G. Vulcan shipyards, made its maiden voyage under the HAPAG flag from Hamburg to New York City.

It was the first time -with the exception of the tragic first sailing and the subsequent ill fate of SS Great Eastern, that the possession of a ship of such class was considered by many as an "unnecessary luxury".

There is no doubt that the failure of SS Kaiser Friedrich to meet the term of the contract with NDL, which explicitly required that the vessel would reach the speed of 22 knots, was detrimental to the image of F. Schichau shipyards.

The F. Schichau Company made a proposal to Norske to become a shareholder, promising to provide them with the capital they needed to survive, if they would agree to purchase the Kaiser Friedrich.

The proposal was accepted and the agreement reached a point where Norske gave the ship the name of SS Leif Eriksson, in honor of the Icelandic explorer of the 10th century.

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.

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.

This time she had managed to remain on track without any major problems, apart from grounding in a sandy shore of the river Garonne at the port of Bordeaux, following the dragging of the ship's anchors.

Over the short period of time that Burdigala served the southern Atlantic line, she evolved into a rather distinguished persona of maritime communications between mainland France and South America.

To this day, one can find post cards of Sud-Atlantique with the ship's photograph in many private collections that the emigrants were sending to their home countries to let their families know that they had arrived safely at their destination.

Immediately after the start of the First World War and the general mobilization, which France declared on 3 August 1914, many ships of the merchant fleet were commandeered by the French government.

The route followed from Toulon passing south of Sardinia and Sicily, and with a first stop in La Valletta, Malta, continuing and rounding the Cape Malea on to Piraeus and from there through the Kea Channel to the Thessaloniki port.

The next day, 14 November 1916, at 10:45 in the morning, while the ship was about 2 nautical miles (3.7 km) southwest off Kea, Greece, a midship explosion blasted on the starboard side which flooded the engine area.

While the ship had taken a 4 degrees list and the captain hoped that she will sink within 20 minutes, later on the situation changed as the water penetrated into the second boiler room ahead of the engines.

According to eyewitness reports, the statement by the commanding officer of the auxiliary cruiser SS Burdigala, Lt. Cdr François Rolland, there was only a single loss of the young engineer Nicolas Losco.

(Losco, 22 years old, born on 22 November 1893 in Marseilles, France, died from burns which he suffered after a steam pipe burst in the boiler room at the time of the explosion.)

The official position of the French Government as submitted by 15 October 1919 which mentions that the SS Burdigala, "torpedoed on November 14, 1916 in the Zea Canal, aborted after having cannoned the enemy's periscope until the last minute.

The French Government awarded in 1919 to Cdr François Rolland, to the second officer Ernest Mercier, to the Chief Engineer Auguste Richard and to other members of the SS Burdigala crew, the medal of honor Ordre de l'Armée.