White Star Line bought her in 1907 to use as a passenger tender, and renamed her Gallic.

[1] John Scott & Co built Birkenhead at its Abden shipyard in Kinghorn in Fife as yard number 87.

She was soon considered too small for tending the company's increasingly large ocean liners.

When J. Bruce Ismay proposed the Olympic-class ocean liners, the company ordered two new tenders: SS Nomadic (for first- and second-class passengers) and the SS Traffic (for third-class passengers and mail).

[citation needed] Gallic was retained for a short time at Cherbourg, where she was occasionally used as a baggage vessel.