The ship was built at the
Maatschappij voor Scheeps- en Werktuigbouw Fijenoord in Rotterdam and launched on 28 September 1898. The ship was commissioned on 15 July 1900. On 22 November that year she arrived in
Marseille with
Paul Kruger who she had picked up in
Lourenço Marques by order of the Dutch Government. After dropping Kruger off she left for the
Dutch East Indies. During this trip while entering the harbor of
Port Said she collided with the British steamer
Peterson. The collision required the ship to be repaired at
Suez. On 6 January 1901 she could resume her journey and arrived three days later on 9 January in
Surabaya. On 6 July 1904
Gelderland and both ran aground near Aroes Lampoejang, South
Sumatra because of incomplete maps. The ships were repaired in
Surabaya and Singapore respectively. On 17 June 1905
Gelderland and her sisters and
Utrecht returned to the Netherlands. The journey involved stops in
Tanjung Priok,
Mahé,
Perim,
Port Said,
Algiers and
Tangier arriving at
Den Helder on 30 August that year. In 1908
Gelderland, together with her sisters and , was sent to patrol the Venezuelan coast during the
Second Castro crisis. On 12 December 1908, the Gelderland captured the Venezuelan gunboat
Alix off Puerto Cabello. She and another ship the
23 de Mayo were interned in the harbor of Willemstad. With their overwhelming naval superiority, the Dutch Navy enforced a blockade on Venezuela's ports. On 17 June 1911
Gelderland left Rotterdam for England. On board was
Prince Henry of the Netherlands who traveled to the United Kingdom to attend the coronation of
George V. For the last part of the journey
Gelderland was escorted by four British
torpedo boats.
Gelderland was sent to
Constantinople on 11 November 1912 because of rising political tension and a direct
war threat. A landing party of 100 men was put ashore and took position in the legations section of the city on 18 November 1912. She was relieved by on 30 May 1913. While patrolling along the Dutch coast an explosion occurred on 14 March 1917, killing one man and severely wounding nine others. After returning to port the ship was taken out of service for maintenance. After
World War I she served as an artillery training ship in the Dutch navy. To facilitate this role, her two 150 mm No.3 cannons would often be swapped out with two additional 120 mm No.2 cannons, and her 75mm mortars were removed.
World War II The ship was retired from service in early 1940 and disarmed with her cannons being used to reinforce coastal defensive positions.
Niobe was raised in June 1953 and scrapped. ==References==