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 , to great effect , 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 DUKW s , 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 . On a level surface , the vehicle was supported on the four middle wheels , the front and rear wheels remaining clear of the surface ( the front pair being raised significantly , the rear pair only slightly ) . The front and rear wheels provided support and traction on soft surfaces and when climbing slopes such as riverbanks . When driven in the water it was propelled by two rear - mounted propellers . Despite success in its first military action , the Terrapin was not an overall successful design and had many significant defects , which were never overcome in service . Due to the large diameter tyres , the Terrapin was a relatively high vehicle and , although open - topped , it was difficult to enter and exit . Any soldier attempting to exit over the side faced both prolonged exposure to enemy fire as well as possible injury from the fall . Like the Medium Mark A Whippet tank of the First World War , the Terrapin had separate engines driving each side of the vehicle with skid steering . This arrangement was awkward on the Whippet , and on the Terrapin as well . If one engine broke down the Terrapin tended to swing around violently . The two centrally located engines split the cargo compartment in two and , though rated as a 4 - ton vehicle , this prevented large loads such as heavy artillery or vehicles from being carried . In addition , the driver had poor visibility as he was centrally located inside the middle of the vehicle . This was compounded by the installation of a canvas cover over the forward hold . As a result another crew member typically had to stand behind the driver and provide directions . In use , the vehicle was found to be rather slow , and was easily swamped in rough seas . These failings quickly led to the abandonment of the design in favour of the development of the Mark 2 , but the growing availability of large numbers of the much more successful American DUKW made further development unnecessary . Mark II . This was similar to the Mark 1 , but had a forward driving position . It was a much longer vehicle , being long compared with the length of the Mark I . Only five of these 5 - ton capacity vehicles were built . Use . During the operations against Walcheren , Terrapins and Buffalo transports carried the 9th Canadian Infantry Brigade in what was intended to be a diversionary attack across a mile wide inlet on 9 October . A sufficiently large bridgehead was made that the attack became the main attempt and the German defences were turned . Terrapins were used in Operation Vitality II on 26 October to carry units from the British 52nd ( Lowland ) Division across the Scheldt ; Amphibious Sherman DD tank s led the attack . Survivors . Kevin Wheatcroft , owner of The Wheatcroft Collection in Great Britain , is known as being the owner of an unrestored Terrapin Mk1 . John Belfield , a collector in Australia , also owns a Terrapin wreck , which still carries the original Australian Registration Number ( ARN ) 149391 .