Gov. John Hickenlooper signed a bill Monday afternoon that spends $100,000 from the state budget to support a new Navy submarine called the USS Colorado.

Lawmakers threw heavy support behind Senate Bill 183 to chip in on the cost of last December’s christening ceremony, to promote the fact Colorado has a submarine named after it within the state and to do stuff for the 134-member crew.

The 370-foot fast-attack submarine was christened in Connecticut with champagne from a Denver vintner chilled in water from the Colorado River.

You can watch the christening here.

Work began in 2012 to build the $2.7 billion vessel, called Virginia-class for its design and nuclear power. It’s alternatively designated SSN 788.

Senate Bill 283 was sponsored by two Colorado Springs lawmakers, Sen. Bob Gardner, a Republican, and Rep. Pete Lee, a Democrat. The legislation passed the House 55-10 and the Senate 29-6.

“It’s imperative we as a state support and celebrate the officers and crew of the USS Colorado,” Gardner told the Senate committee he introduced his bill to in February. “It’s a big deal to have a Navy submarine named after your state and carry that name forever.”

Gardner and Sen. Larry Crowder, R-Alamosa, attended the christening ceremony.

Ret. Capt. John Mackin of Lafayette chairs the state’s USS Colorado Christening Committee. He served in the Navy for 26 years, including as a nuclear submarine officer. He’s lived 22 years in Colorado since he retired, he said.

“I’m extremely excited and proud to have a submarine named Colorado,” Mackin said. “It is indeed a great honor to the state and all the citizens of Colorado to have such a great ship with the name of our state.”

The money has helped bring 25 sailors from the Colorado to Colorado on seven trips, a few at a time, so far. They have made appearances at 10 schools, visited the capitol and several towns, as well as visiting most of Denver’s professional teams.

“We want the sailors of SSN 788 to understand what a great state the represent,” Mackin said. “But more than that we want Coloradans to meet these young sailors. It’s great to see the interaction between them.”

The committee held a contest to design the sub’s crest. There were more than 140 entries in 2015. Mackin said he was at first disappointed to see the winner was from New York and not Colorado, but then delighted to find out winner Michael Nielson was a Navy ensign from Arvada training in New York. Today Nielson is assigned to the USS Colorado.

This is the Navy’s fourth USS Colorado.

The first was named for the Colorado River, a three-masted frigate commissioned in 1858 that served in the blockade of the Confederacy in the Civil War, Mackin said.

The second was an armored cruiser commissioned in 1905. It  supported troop expeditions in Nicaragua and patrolled off Mexico. She was renamed the USS Pueblo in 1915 as the Navy began work on a battleship named for the state.

That ship battleship was commissioned in 1923 and was an all-star in World War II, earning seven battle stars, enduring two Kamikaze attacks and other Japanese assaults. She had 77 casualties and and 388 wounded. When Japan handed over documents of surrender aboard the USS Missouri, the USS Colorado was tied along side her.