Philip V gambles an unseasoned fleet at Chios

Philip V chose the time and place of battle with roughly twice as many ships, but his fleet had scarcely two years of collective experience. The confrontation grew from Macedonian attacks on Rhodian shipping during the Cretan War, bringing Rhodes, Pergamon, Byzantium, and other seasoned maritime forces into opposition. Philip's flagship turned the wrong way, collided with a friendly ship, and was then rammed below the waterline, an unusually destructive outcome in ancient naval combat. Macedonia lost 92 ships sunk and seven captured, with 9,000 dead and 2,000 captured, while allied losses were much smaller. The Macedonians exploited a temporary Pergamene withdrawal but could not reverse the broader allied advantage. The episode shows the gap between possessing hulls and fielding a coordinated fighting force.