MR. JAMES “JAY” HAM BROOKS

Survivor Lusitania disaster

James Brooks, 41, was a salesman with the Weed Chain Company. He was on board Lusitania to travel to England, France, and Russia for business. He was acquainted with Montagu and Chastina Grant, and was with them at the time of the torpedo impact. As the ship was sinking, he remembered Captain Turner trying to stop the lowering of the boats and saw lifeboat spill as they were being lowered. Brooks jumped into the water and climbed aboard a collapsible until he was rescued by the Manx fishing smack Wanderer (Peel 12).