 During this period , Hipper organized the office of <unk> der <unk> der <unk> ( BSN — Commander of the Defense of the North Sea ) , which was also stationed on Niobe . In 1917 , she was disarmed so her guns could be used to reinforce the defenses of Wilhelmshaven . In October that year , Konteradmiral Friedrich Boedicker , then the commander of the I Squadron , came aboard Niobe ; the bulk of the High Seas Fleet had gone into the Baltic to launch Operation Albion , and Boedicker temporarily took control of the BSN . Hipper and his staff left Niobe on 11 August 1918 , having been promoted to command of the High Seas Fleet . The BSN remained aboard Niobe until January 1919 , two months after the war ended with the Armistice ; it was then transferred to the old pre @-@ dreadnought battleship Kaiser Wilhelm II , also in use as a headquarters ship . Niobe was then decommissioned on 3 February . 
