>>1982900I'm confused. The Warships were designated as Class 43 before TOPS?
Second, my understanding is the HST was intended to come into service as a fixed formation of two power cars sandwiching a rake of Mark 2 coaches: after all, it was only an interim to be used on the intercity routes until the APT could take over, which is why they were designated Class 253 (+254 and 255, depending on the composition of the carriages I think). The APT didn't work out, and in the meantime the HST was successful enough and useful enough that it could displace stock outside of the mainlines, and it was simpler maintenance-wise to treat them like any other locomotive - thus the Class 43 designation.
...which, looking at it, means I agree with you. I'm still curious where the Class 43 name came about for the Warships: I know the TOPS rules are more 'general guidelines' and don't really matter anyway, it's just interesting