Ptolemy quickly matched his fleet to mirror his opponent's dispositions: he ordered the transports carrying his army to fall back, and massed the largest ships of his fleet on his own left, which he commanded in person. As the historian Richard Billows writes, "the battle was in effect a race to see which of the two dynasts could first defeat the enemy's right wing and turn to attack the enemy's center", with the "added question of whether or not Menelaus would succeed in breaking out of Salamis in time to intervene". According to Diodorus Siculus, who provides the fullest, and probably most reliable, account of the battle, when the two fleets were about three stadia apart, both Demetrius and Ptolemy raised the signal to attack (a gilded shield), and the two fleets charged each other. Diodorus describes the ramming and boarding actions, as well as the missile exchanges, that dominated the fight: Demetrius himself won distinction for his bravery when Ptolemy's men boarded his flagship, "by hurling his javelins at some of them and by striking others at close range with his spear", despite being himself subject to "many missiles of all sorts". Of his three bodyguards, who tried to protect him with their shields, one was killed and the others severely wounded. The Athenians also fought with distinction, as Demetrius awarded 1,200 suits of armour to Athens from the spoils taken. In the end, both left wings proved victorious, but it was Demetrius who won the race: by the time Ptolemy turned to attack Demetrius' centre, he found the rest of his fleet already defeated and in flight. Menelaus' 60 ships meanwhile, under the command of Menoetius, managed to break through Demetrius' blockade, only to find the battle already lost. Aftermath of the battle Demetrius tasked Neon and Burichus with pursuing the defeated enemy and picking up the men from the sea, and returned in triumph to his camp. According to Diodorus, his fleet had only lost 20 damaged ships, all of which returned to service after repairs, while Ptolemy's fleet had lost 80 ships. More importantly, Demetrius' forces had captured fully 40 of Ptolemy's warships intact with their crews, as well as over a hundred of the transports with some 8,000 troops aboard. Plutarch goes further, claiming that Ptolemy managed to save only eight of his ships, and that 70 of Ptolemy's ships were captured. Among the numerous