 On 19 June 1906 , Niobe was recommissioned for service in the East Asia Squadron . She left Wilhelmshaven on 9 July and rendezvoused with the squadron , the flagship of which was the armored cruiser Fürst Bismarck , on 8 September . The ship cruised Chinese and Japanese waters for the next three years ; her time in the East Asia Squadron was uneventful . On 31 January 1909 , Niobe steamed out of the main German port in the region , Tsingtao , and made the return voyage to Germany . She reached Kiel on 21 March , and having become badly worn out during her three years abroad , she was decommissioned on the 31st . 
