Fixing the Wrongs
Several canon ship names in Star Trek are questionable. This is either because they were named for historical figures of bad reputation, or because of in-jokes using the names of the people making the series or even of characters from other TV shows. Here is an attempt to make up more prudent namesakes.
USS Clavyn - Named for Andros Clavyn, President of the United States who governed the country during WW3.
USS Cortéz - Named for Cuban warp pioneer Josef Cortez who made the second warp flight jump in his vessel, the Norkova.
USS Curry NCC-42254 - Named for 21st century engineer Anne Curry who was one of the leading designers of the Ares series Martian explorers.
USS Elkins NCC-74121 - Named for Maryanne Elkins, first woman president of the United States.
USS Frederickson NCC-42111 - Named for Kyle Fredrickson, 21st century civil rights leader who fought for gay rights.
USS Gallico - Named for Axanar captian Gian ir Gallico who led the Federation fleet at the battle of Can'tu against the Klingons in 2215.
USS Malone - Named for Micheal Malone, allied general during the Eugenics Wars.
USS Nash NCC-2010-5 - Named for Joshua Nash, 21st century ISA Astronaut.
SS Norkova - Named for Josef Cortez' warp ship.
USS Peterson - Named for Edward Peterson, 21st century Marine Biologist who among other things was the first person to capture a live giant squid on video.
USS Sitak - Named for the Vulcan admiral who led the allied fleet at the battle of Cheron during the Romulan wars.
USS Strata - Named for the ISA space station that also played a part in the final battle of WW3.
USS T'Kumbra - Named for the Vulcan matriarch who was Surak's successor.
USS T'Vran - Named for the First Vulcan captain in starfleet.
USS Wambundu - Named for Jean Baptiste Wambundu, first president of the African Union.
USS Yamaguchi NCC-26510 - Named for the 22nd century Japanese astronomer Yoshi Yamaguchi who was primarily responsible for the Quadros space probe program.
USS Zhukov NCC-26136 - Named for the founder of UESPA and scientist who pioneered the new Soyuz program under its banner, Alexi Zhukov.
(Theory by Razor)