James Breen was born 23rd August 1864 at 9, (The) Court, Saltney Street, Liverpool, the son of James Breen (1840 to 1883) and Isabella nee Cassidy (1846 to 1889), he was baptised at St Augustine Church Liverpool on the 4th September 1864. (*). James was the only child of James and Isabella but he had five half siblings from the marriage of Isabella to Joseph McCormick from whom she was separated but apparently not divorced (he died in 1901). The issue is somewhat confused as the birth certificate for James (junior) gives the surname of Isabella as Breen. James (senior) was a “seaman merchant service” and James (junior) followed him into the Mercantile Marine service. James (senior) died 19th January 1883 of tuberculosis in Liverpool workhouse whilst resident at 6, Rock View Terrace, Latiner Street.

James married Annie Gannon (1864 to 1906) on the 9th of March 1886 in Liverpool; the couple produced four children, two of which died within a year of birth. Following the death of Annie, James would again marry on the 26th of August 1911, this time to Mary O’Hare (1868 to 1957). The register of Liverpool Catholic marriages gives the name of James as being “Jacobus” (I.e. Jacob - by which he was also known). Both resided in Clement Street, Liverpool at the time of their marriage, but by 1915, resided at 23, Bold Street, Liverpool. Mary had three children from her previous marriage to one Timothy McGarry (1868 to 1906); after his death, Mary returned to her maiden name of O’Hare - she had no children with James Breen, and did not remarry after his death.

James Breen entered into the Mercantile Marine and is known to have been aboard the following ships - Arizona; Lake Manitoba from 1882; Lucania from 1897; Maplemoore from January 1901; Ottoman; Majestic from 1906 and then the Saxon before going aboard the Cunard liner RMS Lusitania. Launched in 1906, the Lusitania was a very impressive vessel of 40,000 tons, a length of 785 feet. She had a crew of 850 and could carry over two thousand passengers. Whilst the wealthier passengers could travel in great comfort, life was much different for James Breen and his fellow stokers. They toiled in grim conditions in the depths of the ship, feeding the furnaces with the 910 tons of coal per day required to keep Lusitania racing along at its twenty five knots service speed across the Atlantic.

Lusitania set out from New York on her 202nd Atlantic crossing, bound for Liverpool on the 1st of May, 1915 under the command of Captain W.T. Turner. On board were 1,959 men, women and children. The route to be taken would take Lusitania south of Ireland before proceeding up the Irish Sea to Liverpool; this route would be particularly hazardous as U-boats were very active in the area off Southern Ireland, about which Lusitania had been warned. The post disaster inquiry was to be very critical of the decision to take this route. Just after 2pm on the 7th of May, 11 miles south of the Old Head of Kinsale, Ireland, Lusitania was struck on the starboard side by a torpedo fired from U-20 under the command of Walter Schwieger. The ship developed a rapid list to starboard, making the launching of lifeboats extremely difficult and within eighteen minutes, the Lusitania had vanished beneath the waves. For those in the engine rooms, there was no hope of escape and all, including James Breen perished and like so many others, his body was never found. At the time of his death, James was a Leading Fireman and he is remembered on the Tower Hill Memorial.

Of the 1,959 who sailed from New York, 1,195 were lost - 178 saloon passengers, 374 second cabin passengers; 239 third class passengers and 404 crew members. The survivors totalled 764 - 113 saloon passengers; 227 second cabin passengers; 134 third class and 290 crew members. 289 bodies were recovered, of which sixty five could not be identified. Most of the dead are buried in the churchyard at Kinsale and in Queenstown Cemetery. Memorials to those who died were later placed in Cobh and upon The Old Head of Kinsale.  A total of 128 U.S. citizens died in the disaster - their deaths bringing outrage in the USA.

U-20 was lost on the 4th of November 1916 when it ran aground off Denmark. The crew escaped having made a failed attempt to destroy the submarine - it was later blown up by the Danes. Walter Schwieger was killed on the 5th September 1917, whilst in command of U-88. The submarine is assumed to have struck a mine north of Terschelling. There was no survivors amongst the crew of forty three.