Normandies arrival. All passengers were presented with a medal celebrating the occasion on behalf of the CGT.Normandie had a successful year but Queen Mary, Cunard White Star Line's superliner, entered service in the summer of 1936. Cunard White Star said Queen Mary would surpass 80,000 tons. At 79,280 tons, Normandie would no longer be the world's largest. The CGT increased Normandies size, mainly through the addition of an enclosed tourist lounge on the aft boat deck. Following these and other alterations, she measured 83,423 gross register tons. Exceeding Queen Mary by 2,000 tons, she would soon become the world's largest in terms of overall measured gross registered tonnage and length once again, claiming it off Queen Mary who only held it for a short amount of time. On 22 June 1936, a Blackburn Baffin, S5162 of A Flight, RAF Gosport, flown by Lt Guy Kennedy Horsey on torpedo-dropping practice, buzzed Normandie off Ryde Pier and collided with a derrick which was transferring a motor car belonging to Arthur Evans, MP, onto a barge alongside the ship. The aircraft crashed onto Normandies bow. The pilot was taken off by tender, but the wreckage of the aircraft remained on board Normandie as she had to sail due to the tide. It was carried to Le Havre. A salvage team from the Royal Air Force later removed the wreckage. Horsey was court-martialled and found guilty on two charges. Evans' car was wrecked in the accident, which was brought up in Parliament. In August 1936, Queen Mary captured the Blue Riband, averaging , starting a fierce rivalry. Normandie held the size record until the arrival of (83,673 gross register tons) in 1940. During refit, Normandie was modified to reduce vibration. Her three-bladed screws were replaced with four-bladed ones, and structural modifications were made to her lower aft section. These modifications reduced vibration at speed. In July 1937 she regained the Blue Riband, but Queen Mary took it back next year. After this the captain of Normandie sent a message saying, "Bravo to the Queen Mary until next time!" This rivalry could have gone on into the 1940s, but was ended by the Second World War.Normandie carried distinguished passengers, including the authors Colette and Ernest Hemingway; the wife of French President Albert Lebrun; songwriters Noël Coward and Irving Berlin; and Hollywood celebrities such as Fred Astaire, Marlene Dietrich, Walt Disney, Douglas Fairbanks, Jr, and James