 Niobe was ordered under the contract name " B " and was laid down at the AG Weser shipyard in Bremen on 30 August 1898 and launched on 18 July 1899 , after which fitting @-@ out work commenced . She was commissioned on 25 June 1900 to begin sea trials , which lasted until 22 August . She was thereafter placed in reserve . On 11 April 1901 , the ship returned to service and was assigned as the flagship of the I Torpedo @-@ boat Flotilla on the 18th , replacing the elderly aviso Blitz , which was by then worn out . Niobe served in this position until 26 June , and during this period , took part in training exercises in the Baltic Sea and the Kattegat . On 28 June , she left the I Flotilla and escorted the imperial yacht Hohenzollern on a trip to Norway . The visit was cut short following the death of Kaiser Wilhelm II 's mother , Victoria . Niobe then joined the I Squadron for the annual fleet exercises in late August and early September . Following the conclusion of the maneuvers , Niobe was again tasked with escorting Wilhelm II in Hohenzollern , this time to meet with Russian Tsar Nicholas II from 11 to 13 September . Niobe then returned to Wilhelmshaven , where she went into drydock for alterations that lasted from 1 October to 1 April 1902 . 
