 SMS Niobe ( " His Majesty 's Ship Niobe " ) was the second member of the ten @-@ ship Gazelle class of light cruisers built by the Imperial German Navy . She was built by the AG Weser shipyard in Bremen , laid down in 1898 , launched in July 1899 , and commissioned into the High Seas Fleet in June 1900 . She was named after Niobe , a figure from Greek mythology . Armed with a main battery of ten 10 @.@ 5 cm ( 4 @.@ 1 in ) guns and two 45 cm ( 18 in ) torpedo tubes , Niobe was capable of a top speed of 21 @.@ 5 knots ( 39 @.@ 8 km / h ; 24 @.@ 7 mph ) . The ship had a long career , serving in all three German navies , along with the Yugoslav and Italian fleets over the span of over 40 years in service . 
