Edward Moale, Jr. was born at Little Rock Arsenal, Arkansas, 10 September 1866. He was the son of Brigadier General Edward Moale and the grandson of Colonel Samuel Moale, who defended Baltimore against the British in 1814. He was appointed naval cadet from Montana Territory 17 June 1882, completing his four years' study at the Naval Academy in the Class of 1887. Moale initially served in the Pacific Squadron on Adams and Mohican, being commissioned an ensign on completion of his two years' sea service requirement, 01 July 1889. He then served with the Coast Survey on the California and Washington coast, 1889-1892. He next served on the Pacific Station aboard Adams and flagship Philadelphia, 1892-1894, and aboard the Fish Commission steamer Albatross, 1894-1895. Moale then served briefly aboard Monongahela and ashore as an instructor of ordnance at the Naval Academy, 1895-1897, being promoted to Lieutenant (junior grade) 04 June 1897. Serving as an officer on board gunboat Helena 1897-1900, he took part in operations against Spanish land and naval forces at Santiago de Cuba, including the naval battle of 03 July. Helena subsequently sailed east, around the Cape of Good Hope, and across the Indian Ocean to the Philippines. There, Lieutenant Moale participated in operations off northern Luzon, assisting the U.S. Army during the Philippine Insurrection, 1899-1900. Promoted to Lieutenant 03 March 1899, Moale subsequently served on collier Scindia, April-August 1900, Norfolk Navy Yard, September 1900-January 1901 and cruiser San Francisco, January 1901-August 1902. Ordered to the European Station on Chicago, August 1902, he was transferred to flagship Brooklyn for staff duty in August 1903. Ordered home sick that same month, Lieutenant Moale died at Catonsville, Maryland, 23 October 1903, after a long debilitating illness brought about by years of naval service. He is buried in the Naval Academy cemetery in Annapolis.

Moale married Adria Maude Semple, daughter of former Governor Eugene Semple of Oregon, at Seattle in 1891; they had one son, Edward Semple Moale, who served as a calvary lieutenant in France during World War One, an engineer in the merchant marine between the wars, and as a Commander in the Naval Reserve during World War Two. His wife, Henrietta Hanckel Moale, sponsored USS Moale, the sole ship named in his honor.