I'm A Banana
Potassium-Rich
I'd do it as an Encounter Monster, rather than as a normal monster.
And by that I mean that it would play out in a multi-stage encounter against several bits and pieces, rather than one straightforward "combat."
For instance, if the serpent was trying to sink the ship and get at the gooey center of humanoids inside, the approach would be something like this:
STAGE 1: THE SURPRISE ROUND (building suspense)
Give astute PC's the chance to notice something is going to happen. Perhaps a Spot check to notice a large spreading shadow in the water, or a Knowledge (nature) check to figure out why fish are flopping out of water onto the deck, or a random Wisdom check to get a "bad feeling" -- giving each PC something, or at least the group one or two big things. If they roll well (beating a fairly arbitrary DC, set to about a 60% chance of failure, give or take 10-20% for the specialized characters who SHOULD notice something weird about the ocean, or the landlubbers who've never seen a wave before), they can be prepared....which means....
STAGE 2: THE STRIKE (sudden attack!)
The boat rocks violently as the serpent plows into it from below. I'd imagine a creature used to sinking ships would habitually attack the ship itself from it's blindest side, rather than try to surface and do anything crazy. Some NPC mooks fall overboard, of course, and the PC's need to roll some saves to avoid tumbling themselves. And by violently I mean *VIOLENTLY*. The ship rises several feet out of the water as the serpent's jaws clench it and it rises up, tossing it around. Based on the Reflex saves of the PC's, they may take damage or fall out of the ship. Being belowdecks offers no real safe hold, since the serpent's teeth are going to rip some holes in that stuff, and the ship is being propelled out of the water. Those belowdecks take some heavy damage if they fail, mild if they succeed, and if they fail particularly badly, they might fall out of the ship. Those abovedecks take some mild damage, and fall out of the ship if they fail (but manage to cling on despite the damage if they succeed). PC's who noticed the approach can gain a bonus on the save by preparing themselves for the collision. In 4e, this probably translates to the serpent's attack vs. the PC's Reflex.
STAGE 3-6ish: SHE'S GOING DOWN! (building horror)
Well, the ship is in the jaws of a serpent, now, as is noticed by anyone who made their Reflex save (those who didn't might still be too disoriented). Said serpent is going to be breaking it up even more, thrashing it around like a shark on a hunk of meat, serrating and sawing. NOW we roll some initiative, and we have a few events, such as...
* round 3: Water is rushing into the ship, and it's going down fast. PC's belowdecks must make difficult Swim checks to escape from the tangled wreckage and squealing NPC redshirts. Those above need to make Balance checks or Reflex saves to avoid collapsing rigging and tilting angles. On the serpent's turn, it attempts to shatter the ship even more, forcing those who haven't escaped it (or been thrown from it) to make another save as it's tail comes crashing down.
* round 4: Redshirts are being scooped up at the perimeter The PC's get a few opportunities to save them, stabbing the creature in the eyes or swimming very agilely to grab them. Perhaps they need to choose between saving an NPC and grabbing a sinking chest of gold coins. That serpent can swallow quite a few NPC's in a given turn. A clever PC with enough emotional distance might even be able to see what the serpent is doing, circling the group, herding everyone closer together, it's coils tightening....
* round 5: The PC's are directly confronted by an NPC adversary who actively tries to push them into the maw of the beast. The PC's need to make Strength checks and Swim checks to push the goon out of the way, or can use good ol' fashioned stabbin'.
* round 6: The commotion has attracted scavengers. A minor aquatic menace (sahagin? barracuda? sharks? some sort of bird?) show up in the aftermath of the carnage, joining the serpent in picking off the soft n' tasties.
This ends whenever the PC's begin to get bored of it, or when I feel I've abused them enough, or when they do something clever or amazingly successful that helps them avoid some of these complications.
STAGE 7: THE RUSH (life or death!)
Remember in Blue Planet when the whales work together to herd sardines into the center and then rush up in the middle, consuming tons of them all at once? Imagine that, but replace the sardines with that ship full of NPC's! Assuming the PC's didn't do anything crazy horrible to the sea serpent or to escape (totally possible, with a clever group and a well-prepared spellcaster), it feeds. Rising up under the PC's requires the most difficult save yet, but if they've been clever, they can get substantial bonuses. If worst comes to worst, they are swallowed and then killed within a round or three (giant monsters almost never kill you as soon as they eat you, right?). Otherwise, they survive, perhaps drive off the serpent, and live to see the next sunset...but after that, they've gotta deal with being adrift in the ocean, with the scavengers still around...
I'd run most encounters with Behemoth Creatures like this, where it's actually a series of saves and skill checks rather than attack rolls. In this creature's eyes, the PC's are almost Mooks, after all.
For stats, I'd basically need some sort of attack rating for the DC of the saves it forces, some sort of damage rating (that I can halve for being behind a ship, or double for being swallowed, etc), specific hp and AC and actions (we don't need it's whole AC, just the AC for stabbing it in the eye), how to escape it's gullet, maybe a swim speed, a strength rating, how it "rammed" the ship....
Or, being the fast-and-loose DM I am, I'd just make it up with percentage chances to succeed on a d20 roll, calling DC's out of the aether to provoke the PC response I want. Though I'd certainly feel better if I had those things to back me up when the PC's start complaining that it was too tough.
Of course, if the PC's were high level (serpent wrestlin' level) or were really clever (dark spot under the ship?! QUICK, TELEPORT US OUT OF HERE!), they'd get off scott free, or be able to take on the beast more directly. But it'd be a lot less cinematically satisfying...
....though I admit, entirely, that there is a lot of videogame influence behind the "Encounter Monster" way of doing things.
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