The Navy after the War
During her run, the Continental Navy had about sixty vessels pass through her service, but few remained in 1783. These were quickly sold, leaving only the USS Alliance. Though some wanted to keep her as a monument, she was too expensive, and the last ship of the Continental Navy was sold in 1785.1 It would not be until the 1790s that another Navy would be created, though that Navy would consider the October 1775 legislation to be her birth. By the presidency of John Adams, the Navy included 50 ships and thousands of sailors, who proved their mettle against the Barbary Pirates. The Navy declined to only seven ships by 1812, leading then-president James Madison to once again seek the services of privateers, as had been decades prior.2
The many privateers who served the Revolutionary cause largely returned to their pre-war lives. They would largely be ignored in future retellings of the war, prioritizing the heroism of men like John Paul Jones or Abraham Whipple, over the many more privateers who risked life and limb to bring supplies and money to the nascent republic.3 Many of these men, such as Gustavus Conyngham, never received their prize money they felt was owed to them, and it seemed to many that they felt their contributions were being erased, in order to fit a cleaner narrative.4 They certainly had more of an impact than would be thought, if one were to rely on popular retellings.
1 Miller, US Navy, pg. 33
2 Hulbert, Untold War at Sea, pg. 176
3 Hulbert, Untold War at Sea, pg. 179, 181
4 Hulbert, Untold War at Sea, pg. 172-73