According to a biography on Gene Roddenberry, the creator of Star Trek, this: "Roddenberry was asked to write a series called Riverboat, set in 1860s Mississippi. When he discovered that the producers wanted no black people on the show, he argued so much with them that he lost the job." Perhaps this is why there is similarity in the naming of the vessels in Riverboat and Star Trek. BTW Kudos to Roddenberry for taking a compromising moral stance way back then.
Review of Riverboat
