In the present work, specimens of the metastable austenitic stainless steel AISI 347 with different surface morphologies were investigated in stress-controlled fatigue tests in the high cycle fatigue (HCF) regime at ambient temperature. Specific surface morphologies were generated by cryogenic turning with CO2 snow cooling. As a result of the metastable austenite microstructure, phase changes from paramagnetic austenite to ferromagnetic martensite take place in the near-surface regime during cryogenic turning as well as in the whole specimen volume during monotonic and/or cyclic elastic–plastic deformation. The metastability of AISI 347 was characterized according to the M
S-temperature determined from the chemical composition and by X-ray diffraction measurements with in situ cooling. Microhardness and strength of both phases were measured. Near-surface microstructure was analyzed by optical and scanning electron microscopy after focused ion beam preparation. Besides a partially martensitic surface layer, a thin nanocrystalline layer, both induced by cryogenic turning, was observed. In case of cyclic loading, the martensitic surface layer leads to a reduction of plastic strain amplitude as well as a retardation of crack initiation and consequently to an increase in fatigue life.