LukeFF,
It is because of the Phonetic Alphabet in use by the USN at the time. The Phonetic word for the letter S was Sugar, therefore Sugar boats. Sorry there is not a more romantic story about it, but most military nicknames are based in the mundane.
In case anyone is interested the old Phonetic Alphabet went like this:
A = Able B = Baker C = Charlie D = Dog E = Easy F = Fox G = George H = How I = Item
J = Jig K = King L = Love M = Mike N = Nancy O = Oboe P = Peter Q = Queen R = Roger
S = Sugar T = Tare U = Uniform V = Victor W = William X = X=ray Y = Yoke Z = Zebra
As opposed to the one currently in use today;
A = Alfa B = Bravo C = Charlie D = Delta E = Echo F = Foxtrot G = Golf H = Hotel I = India
J = Juliett K = Kilo L = Lima M = Mike N = November O = Oscar P = Papa Q = Quebec R= Romeo
S = Sierra T = Tango U = Uniform V = Victor W = Whiskey X = X-ray Y = Yankee Z = Zulu
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