Terrapin

A terrapin is one of several small species of turtle living in fresh or brackish water. Terrapins do not form a taxonomic unit, and may not be very closely related, although many belong to the families Geoemydidae and Emydidae. A distinction between turtle and terrapin does not exist in other European languages. The name "terrapin" is derived from the Algonquian word torope, used for Malaclemys terrapin. In the UK, red-eared sliders are known as red-eared terrapins.

Species

Turtle species with "terrapin" in their common names include:

Terrapin (song)

"Terrapin" is a song by Syd Barrett that appears as the first track off his first solo album The Madcap Laughs and is notably the sole representative from that album that appears on The Peel Session. The song's arrangement is sparse, like much of the album, and features only acoustic and electric guitar accompaniment to the vocals. This song, along with "Maisie" and "Bob Dylan Blues"; reflected Barrett's early interest in the blues.Iggy the Eskimo, one of Barrett's acquaintances, had called the song "quite catchy".

The Syd Barrett Appreciation Society titled its official magazine Terrapin (published from 1972–1976), in tribute to the song. It was released on the multi-artist Harvest compilation, Picnic – A Breath of Fresh Air.

Recording

While recording Madcap, in April 1969, Barrett played back several tapes of songs recorded up to that point to producer Malcolm Jones, at Jones' request. After the play backs, Barrett performed on guitar several tracks to Jones, one of them being "Terrapin". "Terrapin" was recorded in just one take on 11 April, The lead guitar for it was overdubbed in the session on 26 April.

Terrapin (amphibious vehicle)

The Terrapin "4-ton amphibian" was a British-manufactured, amphibious armoured transport vehicle of the Second World War. It was first used in 1944 at Antwerp during the Battle of the Scheldt.

The Terrapin served with the Royal Engineer assault teams of the 79th Armoured Division and were used to carry infantry units (Canadian and British) over rivers.

Development

Due to a shortage of US-manufactured DUKWs, the British Ministry of Supply commissioned Thornycroft to design an amphibious vehicle capable of ferrying supplies and troops from ship to shore for the D-Day landings.

Some 500 Terrapin Mark 1 were built by Morris Commercial, the commercial vehicle side of Morris Motors Limited.

A Mark 2 Terrapin with a number of improvements reached the prototype stage, but the war ended before it entered production.

Mark 1

The Terrapin was powered by two Ford V8 engines mounted side-by-side with each motor driving the wheels on one side. Wheel braking was used to steer, the brakes being operated by levers.