The work aims to study reciprocating friction and erosion properties of novel marine arctic steel plates. Reciprocating friction test behavior of marine arctic steel plates was tested on UMT-2 multi-functional friction and wear tester provided with different loads (10, 20, 30 N) and frequencies (2, 5 Hz). Morphology of grinding cracks of the steel plates were analyzed with optical microscope and scanning electron microscope, profile of worn surface with optical profiler and worn surface composition with EDS. Wear rate firstly increased and then decreased as test normal load increased from 10 N to 30 N, and friction coefficient of the marine arctic steel plates increased from 0.51 to 0.63 gradually. Under the same load, friction coefficient decreased as the reciprocating frequency increased. Provided with reciprocating frequency of 5 Hz and load of 30 N. profile width and depth of the worn section was 750 μm and 3871 nm, respectively, after 2 h friction. Wear mechanism of the marine arctic steel plate transmitted from abrasive wear to fatigue wear, oxide layer, surface hardening layer and transfer layer were present on the contact surface. The wear mechanism of marine arctic steel plate is the combination of abrasive wear and fatigue wear under low load. Fatigue wear is present on the contact surface as the load increases. The friction coefficient decreases as the movement speed increases under the same load. The metal film forming under the effect of friction heat on the contact surface helps reduce surface roughness and friction coefficient.