 After Niobe returned to active service in April 1902 , she returned to duty with the I Torpedo @-@ boat Flotilla , and was stationed in the Baltic . On 2 July , she was transferred back to the I Squadron for the annual training exercises and a winter cruise toward the end of the year . During this period , Korvettenkapitän ( Corvette Captain ) Franz von Hipper served as the ship 's commander . In early 1903 , she again returned to the I Torpedo @-@ boat Flotilla , her last stint as the flotilla flagship . The Navy initially planned on sending Niobe to reinforce the squadron participating in the Venezuelan crisis of 1902 – 03 , but the incident concluded before she could be sent . Instead , on 1 March , she joined the cruisers of the I Scouting Group for a trip to Norway . She remained in the I Scouting Group for the annual maneuvers that followed later in the year , and through 1904 as well . Following the fleet maneuvers in August and September 1904 , Niobe was decommissioned on 29 September . She spent the following two years out of service , during which time she underwent a major overhaul . 
