Vaux and Lys were a pair of single screw steel sister-ships built for the Normandy Shipping Company (Stephenson Clarke & C^o., managers) by S.P. Austin & Son of Sunderland in 1920. Identical in design, they were registered at 1,830 tons gross (1,384 under deck & 955 net) although, curiously, the net tonnage of Lys was 5 tons lighter. Both measured 260 feet in length with a 37½ foot beam and were powered by a triple expansion 3-cylinder 201nhp. engine by Richardsons, Westgarth of Sunderland to give a service speed of 10 knots. Coal-fired, with bunkers for 185 tons of fuel, they each had four holds with capacity for 2,500 tons of general cargo. Neither vessel stayed long with its original owners and, renamed under new ownership, their subsequent history is obscure.