On 29 October 1932 – three years to the day after the stock market crash – "Normandie" was launched in front of 200,000 spectators. The 27,567-ton hull that slid into the Loire River was the largest launched and the wave washed up the shoreline and over several hundred spectators, but with no injury. The ship was christened by Madame Marguerite Lebrun, wife of Albert Lebrun, the President of France. She was outfitted until early 1935, her interiors, funnels, engines, and other fittings put in to make her into a working vessel. Finally, in May 1935, "Normandie" was ready for trials, which were watched by reporters. The superiority of Yourkevitch's hull was visible: hardly a wave was created off the bulbous bow. The ship reached a top speed of and performed an emergency stop from that speed in .