My Prof Does Not Know My Thesis Field Well
I don’t think this is that strange. My PhD supervisor had almost no clue about the intricate details of my field, and no previously published papers in the field until we began to work together. 

I was able to identify his strengths and use them to my advantage. For example,  he was a very talented mathematician and I was working on some heavy-duty equations which I struggled with. I knew he would be able to help, without having the slightest idea about what the equations physically represented. 

In your words, I (and probably many other people) had to “lonewolf” the majority of my PhD with only little nuggets of help along the way. I think it is our own responsibility to read the literature, find gaps etc. then seek help when you have a real problem? Not just “what papers do I need to read” and so on.