Harold Conklin Moore was born to Thomas Luther and Edith Conklin Moore on August 23, 1901, at Greenport, L.I., New York, where he completed his high school eduction. In 1922 he was graduated from the New York State Merchant Marine Academy (Merchant Marine Schoolship Newport).
He entered the U.S. Coast Guard Academy at New London, Conn., as a cadet on May 17, 1923, and was graduated and commissioned an Ensign on May 15, 1926. Subsequently he advanced in rank to Leiutenant (jg), May 15, 1928; Lieutenant, May 15, 1930; Lieutenant Commander, November 3, 1936; Commander, August 15, 1942; Captain, August 1, 1943; Rear Admiral, April 1, 1956. While at the Academy he was company commander in 1925, platoon commander in 1926, and was active during all four years in baseball and basketball, acting in the latter as captain in 1925 and manager in 1926.
During his first assignment he served with the Cutter Tampa out of Boston International Ice Patrol and with a special patrol force on the Eastern Seaboard. While with the Tampa he was commended twice for bravery, once while assisting the Naval Control Forces in salvage of submarine S-4 (Dec. 19, 1927) at which time he ventured in a surfboat with a crew in a heavy gale and high seas to remove a man with a broken hand from submarine S-8 working on the scene. Another time, when he volunteered to fasten a towing hawser to the burning oil tanker Overbrook during which he made three trips in a small boat during a heavy gale and high seas.
In May 1928 he was assigned to duty as instructor in the Department of Mathematics at the Coast Guard Academy. While there he also instructed cadets on their summer practice aboard the Cutters Alexander Hamilton, Reclaimer and Champlain, and was assistant basketball coach during the winter of 1930.
In September 1931, he was assigned to the Bath Iron Works, Maine, to duty in connection with inspection, construction, handling of personnel and supplies for the new patrol boat Perseus, and was given command of the vessel in April 1932.
In February 1934 he took command of the Cutter Argo, based at Staten Island, N.Y., and in April of that year was assigned temporarily to command a flotilla of new 125-foot patrol boats while being taken to assigned homeports on the Great Lakes.
On September 15, 1934, he placed the Cutter Onondaga in commission at Bay City, Michigan, and commanded the vessel to her assigned station at Astoria, Oregon. Reassigned as the Onondaga's executive officer, he made the Bering Sea Patrol of 1935 with the cutter.
He was transferred in August 1936 to the San Francisco Division to act as technical advisor for motion pictures with Coast Guard plots that were then being produced in Hollywood studios.
Returning to the Coast Guard Academy in May 1937, he became head of the Department of Seamanship, and also commanded the Academy's training Schooner Chase during the 1938 cruise, and was squadron commander of the Icarus, Argo, and Curlew during the 1940 cruise.
From November 1941 to August 1942 of World War II, he commanded the Cutter Nourmahal, stationed in New York, then served as commanding officer of the Coast Guard Detachment, Engineer Amphibian Command at Camp Edwards, Mass. He received the Army Commendation Ribbon for his excellent work there.
From July 1943 to January 1944 he commanded the Cutter Ingham (based at Boston) on convoy escort duty to Casablanca, anti-submarine action in the North Atlantic and in the Panama region, and with a New York convoy to Guantanamo Bay.
He then commanded the Cutter Duane serving with the U.S. Eighth Amphibious Force in the European Theatre of War, and was awarded the Bronze Star Medal for "exceptional ability, resourceful leadership, and outstanding devotion to duty" displayed during the invasion of Southern France in August 1944.
From August 1945 to June 1946, he served as Planning and Control Officer and as Captain-of-the-Port, on the staff of the Third Coast Guard District office in New York City. He then transferred to Coast Guard Headquarters, Washington, D.C., where he served directly under the Commandant for five years as Coordinator for Interdepartmental and International Affairs. Some of his duties in this capacity included that of:
Technical Advisor of the U.S. delegation to the International Conference on North Atlantic Ocean Weather Stations, held in London during September 1946;
Advisor on the U.S. delegation to the International Whaling Conference, held at Washington, D.C., during Nov. 1946;
Member of the U.S. delegation to the International Meetings on Marine Radio Aids to Navigation, held in New York City and New London, Conn., beginning April 28, 1947;
Adviser on the U.S. delegation to the International Congress of River Transportation, held in Paris, France, during June-July 1947, and
U.S. Coast Guard representative at the Fifth International Lifeboat Conference held in Oslo, Norway;
Adviser on the U.S. delegation to the International Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Conference held at Washington, D.C., on January 26, 1949;
Adviser on the U.S. delegation to the International Civil Aviation Organization Conference on Joint Financing and Operation of Air Navigation Services, held at London, England, April 20, 1949.
In August 1950, he was assigned the additional duties of Special Assistant to the Under Secretary of the Treasury, and liaison officer for the Treasury Department with other government agencies.
In July 1951, he became Chief of Staff, Ninth Coast Guard District, with office in Cleveland, Ohio. He next was assigned to duty as Chief of Staff of the Fifth Coast Guard District, with office at Norfolk, Va., assuming this post on July 13, 1955. A Captain at that time, he was nominated by the President in February 1956, and confirmed by the Senate on April 1, 1956 to the permanent rank of Rear Admiral. The following month, Rear Admiral Moore became Commander, Fifth Coast Guard District (relieving Rear Admiral Russell E. Wood, USCG). He was relieved of this post on February 4, 1959, and transferred to San Francisco to duties as Commander, Twelfth Coast Guard District and Commander, Western Area (again relieving Rear Admiral Wood).
In addition to the Bronze Star Medal and Army Commendation Ribbon for World War II service, Rear Admiral Moore has the following campaign and service ribbons: American Defense Service with Sea Clasp, American Campaign, European-Middle Eastern Campaign, and World War II Victory.
Rear Admiral Moore is marred to the former Elinore K. of New London, Conn., and has one son, John Kelly Moore, who attended Virginia Military Institute at Lexington, Va.