Doug Thompson

Special to The Star

Ocean waves break ceaselessly on the rusty metal remains of a 467-foot luxury liner that went aground off the southeast end of Silver Strand Beach in Oxnard.

Today, most people don't know it's there, but when the ship broke from its offshore moorings during a storm and scuttled on April 13, 1970, the wreck of La Jenelle was a very big deal.

Old photos showing the ship lying inoperable on its side have a strong resemblance to those of the Costa Concordia, a 952-foot cruise ship that tipped over off the coast of Italy in January 2012 when the captain tried to cut through a narrow channel. For more than two years the Costa Concordia lay helpless until it was righted and towed away.

La Jenelle also lay prone for more than two years, but it never floated again.

Professional marine salvage crews started officially dismantling the ship in 1972. But long before that, the adventurous, curious and criminal explored the off-kilter inside of La Jenelle, removing bits of history out of ignorance, interest and greed. Once the superstructure and deck metal were cut away, the hull was filled with sand and the jetty was built around it.

Now, some items from the ship are on display at the Channel Islands Maritime Museum through Oct. 2. The exhibit tells the history of the ship that was launched from Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corp. in Quincy, Massachusetts, in 1930 and had four other names.

"That shipwreck created one of the best surf spots in California," said Jason Hodge, 41, a Ventura County firefighter and Port of Hueneme commissioner who grew up surfing the break created by La Jenelle. "It's a perfect little peak that will break in the summer because it catches a little bit of the south swell."

Referring to the surf spot and parking lot as "The Ship" or "La Jenelle" identifies one as a local. Calling the break the south jetty of Silver Strand Beach brands one as a visitor.

"That shipwreck is an amazing piece of our history that is virtually unknown to the citizens here," Hodge said. "If more people knew about it, they would come to see the exhibit and learn about the story. It's the largest luxury liner to sink off the West Coast. That is why I am passionate about it."

The ship was first launched as the Borinquen, and then renamed the Porto Rico (1949), Arosa Star (1954), S.S. Bahama Star (1959) and La Jenelle (1969).

Jason Hodge's father, Richard, had two distinct encounters with the ship. The first was at age 10 in 1957, when it was named the Bahama Star and took passengers from Miami to the Bahamas.

"We lived in Miami, and I went over to watch a Corvette race on one of the islands," said Richard Hodge, 69.

Now a resident of Barstow, the elder Hodge moved to Ventura County in the 1960s and was an Oxnard firefighter when La Jenelle went aground.

"After it sunk, for awhile it was like open season. People would get on the ship and take anything they wanted. It was the weirdest thing to be in a ship on its side, and every open door is going downhill."

Richard Hodge adorned the family home he built in Oxnard in 1972 with La Jenelle artifacts. His son remembers them well.

"My dad used those parts as decorations, things like straps and lanterns, and he had a photo of a surfer going by the ship where it wrecked," Jason Hodge said. "That got me interested in it."

Jason Hodge has helped maintain a small exhibit at the Beachcomber Tavern on Silver Strand's Ocean Drive and worked with Maritime Museum Executive Director Julia Chambers and curator Kate Crouse for the past few years to get the exhibit up and running. Alas, at the July 14 exhibit opening, Hodge was fighting a fire near Lake Sherwood and could not attend.

One person who did attend was Neil Richardson, who crossed the Atlantic Ocean from England to Canada with his parents in November 1956, when the ship was named the Arosa Star.

"I was only 1½, and the trip was apparently really rough," said Richardson, 61, of Santa Barbara. "The only people who didn't get sick were me and an old German guy. I have a picture of me on the ship, and another of a wave breaking across the bow."

IF YOU GO

What: La Jenelle: Recovered Relics from a Local Legend

When: Through Oct. 2.

Where: Channel Islands Maritime Museum, 3900 Bluefin Circle, Channel Islands Harbor, Oxnard.

Hours: 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily.

Admission: $5 adults, $4 for seniors 62 and older; $2 for children 6 to 17; free for children younger than 6.

Information: 984-6260; www.cimmvc.org.